Musk Denies Telegram Partnership After Grok Integration Sparks Speculation
Elon Musk throws cold water on deal rumors—despite Grok’s sudden appearance on Telegram. No contracts, no handshakes, just another day in crypto’s theater of the absurd.
Tech’s most chaotic bromance hits another snag. Musk’s AI bot lands on Pavel Durov’s platform, sending crypto Twitter into a frenzy—until the billionaire drops the ’no deal’ hammer. Classic crypto: buy the rumor, sell the news... if there ever was any.
Meanwhile, bagholders check their portfolios and whisper: ’Maybe next partnership announcement will pump it.’ Spoiler: It won’t.
Funding push meets corporate goals
Telegram carries more than $1 billion in debt linked to bond issues it floated in 2021 and 2023 to fund operations.
Durov, who has long financed the company through personal loans, seeks new income streams before a bond maturity next year.
Under the draft terms, xAI would wire $300 million to Telegram and place an equity stake that both companies declined to quantify. Telegram would also receive a recurring share of Grok fees collected through its in-app purchase channels.
Musk launched xAI last July to train Grok on public data and content licensed from X. The model competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini.
A Telegram integration would give Grok an immediate reach larger than X’s roughly 600 million registered accounts.
Musk closes government participation
Musk’s statement on the unsigned contract arrived as he exited his temporary seat at the US Department of Government Efficiency, known internally as DOGE.
The White Housethat the billionaire’s 130-day allotment as a special government employee ends this week. Musk confirmed his departure in a, thanking President Donald TRUMP for the appointment and reiterating his goal of reducing federal spending.
Musk filled the designation of “special government employee,” which allows him to work a federal job for 130 days each year. Considering Trump’s first day at the WHITE House on January 20, the designation would expire at the end of May.
