Elon Musk refutes claims of Tesla's revenue-sharing deal with xAI
Elon Musk, the founder of EV manufacturer Tesla and artificial intelligence start-up xAI, has dismissed a report suggesting that his two companies are in negotiations over a revenue-sharing agreement. The Wall Street Journal had reported that Tesla was planning to use xAI's AI models for its driver-assistance software and full self-driving technology. In exchange, it would share some of its future revenue with xAI.
Musk denies need for licensing from xAI
Musk took to his social media platform X on Saturday night, to refute the claims made by The Wall Street Journal. He stated, "Tesla has learned a lot from discussions with engineers at xAI that have helped accelerate achieving unsupervised FSD, but there is no need to license anything from xAI." He further emphasized that the report about a potential licensing deal between Tesla and xAI was "not accurate."
Speculations about xAI's role in Tesla's technology
The Wall Street Journal's report also suggested that xAI could contribute to other aspects of Tesla's technology, such as a voice assistant for its electric cars and software for its humanoid robot Optimus. The terms of any potential revenue-sharing agreement would depend on how much Tesla relied on xAI's technology versus its own. However, these claims remain unverified as Musk has denied any such arrangement.
Musk's vision for xAI and Tesla collaboration
Despite denying the licensing deal, Musk has previously acknowledged the potential benefits of a collaboration between Tesla and xAI. He stated that xAI could be "helpful in advancing full self-driving and in building up the new Tesla data center." He also suggested the possible integration of xAI's chatbot, Grok, with Tesla's software. Back in July, he revealed plans to discuss a $5 billion investment in xAI with the Tesla board.
