Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said that artificial intelligence company xAI is investing $300 million to integrate its technology into his service. Telegram also plans to raise $1.5 billion through a bond issue.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said that artificial intelligence company xAI is investing $300 million to integrate its technology into his service. Telegram also plans to raise $1.5 billion through a bond issue.
As part of Elon Musk's company xAI, Telegram will feature a chatbot with artificial intelligence, Grok, which already works on the social network X (Twitter).
“This summer, Telegram users will have access to the best artificial intelligence technology on the market. Elon Musk and I have agreed on a 1-year partnership to bring xAI Grok technology to our over 1 billion users and integrate it into all Telegram applications,” Durov said .
He added that Telegram will receive 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions purchased through the app. Earlier this year, xAI made the Grok chatbot available to Telegram premium users, TechCrunch reports. Thanks to the announced partnership, Grok could become available to all users.
🔥 This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market. @elonmusk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAI's @grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps 🤝
— Pavel Durov (@durov) May 28, 2025
💪 This also strengthens Telegram's financial… pic.twitter.com/ZPK550AyRV
It is reported that Telegram will have the following features:
The Wall Street Journal also reported, citing its own sources, that Telegram plans to raise at least $1.5 billion through a new bond sale. It is noted that this funding round indicates investor confidence in Telegram's future growth despite the French prosecutor's accusations against Pavel Durov.
“We complied with all the legally binding requests that we received. And to this day we don’t understand what we did wrong,” Durov said of his problems with French law enforcement at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. At the forum, he also said he considered himself Russian , but denied any ties to Russian intelligence.
The 9% yield-to-maturity, five-year bonds would allow investors to convert their holdings into Telegram shares at a discount if the company eventually goes public. However, a public listing seems unlikely in the short term, given market volatility and Durov's ongoing legal troubles.
It was previously reported that Telegram earned $343 million more in 2024 than in 2023 and for the first time achieved an annual profit of $540 million.
