Elon Musk Launches Poll on Tesla's $5B AI Investment in xAI

Elon Musk initiated a social media poll to gauge support for Tesla's $5 billion investment in his AI startup, xAI. The poll, which has seen significant user participation, aims to test public sentiment. The move aligns with Tesla's increased focus on AI, despite recent financial challenges.

On Tuesday, billionaire Elon Musk launched a poll on social media platform X, querying users whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in his artificial intelligence startup xAI.

Musk noted that board approval and shareholder votes are essential and positioned the poll as a method to 'test the waters' for the potential deal. Tesla did not provide an immediate comment to Reuters, and xAI was unreachable.

By 0234 GMT, more than 322,000 users participated in the poll, with 70.2% in favor of the investment. The poll is set to close within a day. xAI, founded by Musk last year, aims to challenge AI leaders such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Alphabet's Google.

Earlier, Tesla reported its lowest profit margin in over five years, following price cuts and increased expenditure on AI projects. Tesla expects future profits to be driven by AI, software, and fleet-based sectors.

Last month, Musk announced that Tesla would likely spend $3 billion to $4 billion on Nvidia's hardware in 2023, making up half of its $10 billion AI-related capital expenditure for the year.

Valued at $24 billion, xAI raised $6 billion in series B funding in May, backed by investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.

(With inputs from agencies.)