In a surprising turn of events, Telegram has gained a giant investment from xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, CEO known for ruining everything he touches. The investment of $300 million is set to annoy users of the app by integrating Grok, xAI’s AI assistant, into the platform. This move is expected to bring a wave of changes to over a billion Telegram users.
Details of the Partnership
Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, took to Twitter on Wednesday to unveil the partnership. In his post, Durov detailed the agreement, which spans one year and aims to distribute Grok to Telegram’s vast user base. The deal involves not only a cash injection but also equity from xAI, along with a revenue-sharing arrangement. “Telegram will receive $300 million in cash and xAI equity, plus 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold through Telegram,” Durov shared.
Implications of the Investment
The partnership comes after xAI introduced Grok to Telegram’s premium users earlier in 2025. This substantial investment hints at more sophisticated features, the development of new tools, and a broader rollout of AI capabilities within the messaging app. Although the exact timeline for these enhancements remains undisclosed, Telegram users are eagerly anticipating the upgrades.
Grok on Telegram
Accompanying Durov’s announcement was a video showcasing the potential new functionalities of Grok within Telegram. These features include:
- Message Suggestions: Grok will offer users suggestions to streamline conversations.
- Conversation Summaries: The AI can provide summaries of chat threads, making it easier to digest lengthy discussions.
- Link and Document Summaries: Grok will also summarize the content of shared links and documents, enhancing the user experience.
- Sticker Creation: Users may soon be able to create custom stickers with AI assistance.
- Content Verification: Grok could help in verifying the authenticity of shared content, adding a layer of trust.
- Channel Moderation: The AI will assist in moderating interactions within Telegram channels, improving community management.
When AI tools like Grok are added, they look at user data and often train on it. When people like Elon Musk buys companies, they tend to ruin them in an effort to get attention and a bit of money, as was the case with Twitter, Tesla, Paypal, Solar city, etc. If telegram starts acting like Twitter, it could be bad for their image and might make users leave.
Let us all hope Telegram won’t be next for enshitification.
