Musk clarifies that no agreement has been reached with Telegram, despite the announcement of Grok integration.

Elon Musk announced on May 28 that xAI had not formalized any arrangement with Telegram to deploy the Grok large language model, countering Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s earlier statement on that same day.

Durov claimed that he and Musk had “reached an agreement for a one-year collaboration” which would integrate Grok into all Telegram applications, providing the messaging platform with “$300 million in cash and equity,” in addition to half of the revenue from every Grok subscription sold through Telegram.

Just hours later, Musk responded on X, clarifying that “no formal agreement has been established.” Durov acknowledged this, stating that both parties had come to an “agreement in principle” while pending the necessary formalities.

There was no mention from either party regarding when the final agreements would be finalized or when the project would officially launch.

Telegram currently holds over $1 billion in debt related to bonds issued in 2021 and 2023 as part of its operational financing strategy.

Durov, who has historically supported the company with his own loans, is looking for alternative revenue sources ahead of a bond maturity deadline next year.

According to preliminary terms, xAI would transfer $300 million to Telegram and establish an equity share, although neither company revealed specific figures. Additionally, Telegram would gain a continuous share of Grok fees obtained through its in-app purchasing mechanisms.

Musk founded xAI in July to develop Grok by training it on publicly available data and content licensed from X. This model competes with others such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini.

An integration with Telegram would instantly expand Grok’s audience beyond the approximately 600 million accounts registered on X.

Musk’s declaration regarding the unsigned contract coincided with his conclusion of a temporary role at the US Department of Government Efficiency, known internally as DOGE.

The White House confirmed on May 28 that Musk’s role as a special government employee, which lasted 130 days, would conclude this week. In a post on X, Musk expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump for his appointment and reiterated his commitment to reducing federal expenditures.

Musk’s designation as a “special government employee” allowed him to serve in a federal position for 130 days each year. Considering Trump assumed office on January 20, this designation was set to end by the end of May.