Elon Musk founded xAI, SpaceX’s newest division, in July 2023 as a counterbalance to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which Musk helped cofound and fund before leaving in 2018.
ChatGPT, Musk claimed, had a liberal bias. Beyond that, Musk proclaimed a grand ambition for his company: to make a “maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.” Musk’s cofounders came from the top AI labs and tech companies, including Google’s DeepMind, OpenAI, Microsoft and Tesla.
Grok, xAi’s chatbot, was unveiled in November 2023 and by December was officially integrated with X, formerly Twitter. Musk has called Grok the most truthful and therefore “safe” AI. But Grok is also far more risque than the other chatbots, with “spicy” and “conspiracy” modes and AI companion bots that are known to quickly delve into intimate conversations.
While Grok has generally scored well on AI model benchmarks, it’s still not considered competitive with Anthropic and OpenAI’s models. It is, however, the only model with access to real-time X data, making it the strongest option for live social media intelligence and trend monitoring.
xAI has also heavily invested in AI infrastructure, including Colossus, currently the world’s largest artificial intelligence supercomputer, located in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 2025, xAI acquired X in an all-stock deal. In early 2026, SpaceX acquired xAI and folded it into the space giant’s AI division.
