Elon Musk denies Telegram deal after Durov announces $300m xA integration

Telegram’s proposed partnership with Elon Musk’s xAI is facing uncertainty after Musk publicly denied that any agreement has been finalized. 

This comes just hours after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced what appeared to be a $300 million deal to integrate xAI’s Grok chatbot into the messaging app.

On Wednesday, Durov said the two companies had agreed “in principle” to a one-year partnership. He claimed the deal included a $300 million cash-and-equity investment from xAI, plus 50% of the subscription revenue generated from Grok within Telegram. 

Grok would reportedly be integrated across Telegram’s apps this summer, enabling AI features such as smart search, message rewriting, and content moderation.

Musk’s rebuttal 

But in a brief comment on X, Musk refuted Durov’s announcement: “No deal has been signed.” Following Musk’s rebuttal, Durov walked back the certainty of his statement, saying the agreement was still pending final documentation.

The confusion comes at a critical time for Telegram. The platform recently announced plans to raise $1.5 billion in a bond sale, reportedly involving institutional investors such as Citadel, BlackRock, and Mubadala. 

Durov had said the Grok partnership would help bolster Telegram’s financial position following its 2024 profit of $540 million.

Despite the lack of a finalized deal, Toncoin (TON), Telegram’s associated crypto token, initially jumped nearly 19% on the news before retreating after Musk’s response.