"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw's observation from over a century ago perfectly captures the dynamic at play in one of today's most intriguing tech partnerships. Its my favourite overused quote when writing about the weird and wonderful AI times that we live in. But stay with me.
Two of tech's most controversial figures are joining forces in a partnership that could reshape how we think about AI integration in messaging platforms. The announced deal between Elon Musk's xAI and Pavel Durov's Telegram represents more than just another business arrangement—it's a convergence of philosophies around free speech, platform governance, and the future of LLMs.
For all the criticism that follows Musk's moves, there's an undeniable pattern: he gets things done. Whether it's revolutionising electric vehicles, extending internet access to remote corners of the world through Starlink, or developing brain-computer interfaces through Neuralink, Musk consistently transforms ambitious ideas into reality. The Telegram partnership fits this pattern—a bold move that others might consider too risky or complex to attempt. In Shaw's terms, both Musk and Durov represent the "unreasonable" figures who refuse to accept the world as it is.
The partnership could potentially see xAI's Grok AI assistant integrated into Telegram's messaging service, reaching the platform's billion-plus users. The financial terms are substantial: Durov announced that Telegram would receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold through Telegram over the course of a year.
However, the deal's announcement wasn't without its complications. After Durov posted about the partnership on X, Musk quickly clarified that "no deal has been signed," forcing Durov to walk back his announcement and explain that they had only "agreed in principle" with formalities still pending. The Observer noted that this premature announcement coincidentally aligned with a $1.7 billion bond sale by Durov's company.
The partnership would give Grok unprecedented access to user data—potentially from any of Telegram's 1 billion users who interact with the AI, far exceeding the 600 million users Grok currently has exposure to through X. This data access represents a significant expansion of xAI's training and operational capabilities.
To understand the strategic importance of this partnership, it's crucial to recognise how Musk's approach to data acquisition has evolved. When Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, many viewed it as an expensive mistake. However, with xAI's valuation now approaching $45 billion , the Twitter acquisition appears increasingly strategic. As I noted back in November '24 "One way to look at the maths is that Musk bought Twitter, X, or whatever you want to call it for free."
X has transformed from a social media platform into what amounts to a vast data repository for AI training. Privacy policy changes now allow third-party "collaborators" to use the platform's data for AI development, mirroring moves by platforms like Reddit. The Telegram partnership extends this data strategy significantly, potentially giving xAI access to an even larger and more diverse dataset.
The collaboration didn't emerge from nowhere. As detailed in The Observer's reporting, Musk and Durov's relationship began developing during Musk's transformation of Twitter into X. When Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, he specifically looked to Telegram as a model for efficiency and governance. According to Kate Conger and Ryan Mac's book "Character Limit," Musk's team wondered why Twitter couldn't be more like Telegram, which operated with only 60 employees and a light moderation regime while serving many more users.
This reflects something fundamental about how Musk approaches problems: he's willing to completely reimagine existing systems rather than incrementally improve them. Yes, his methods can be jarring—the reported 80% workforce reduction at Twitter was brutal by conventional standards. But the transformation of X into a data repository for AI training shows the strategic thinking behind moves that initially appeared destructive. Mistakes get made when you're moving this fast and making changes this dramatic, but the alternative is often slow death by a thousand small compromises.
Musk's long-term thinking operates on timescales that most people simply can't fathom. Back in 2013 at South by Southwest, he made one of his most memorable statements: "I'd like to die on Mars. Just not on impact." More than a decade later, he remains dead serious about this goal. At the same event, he laid out his reasoning in typical Musk fashion—big picture, long term, and just a little apocalyptic: "The sun is gradually expanding. In 500 million years—a billion at the outside—the oceans will boil and there will be no meaningful life on Earth. Maybe some very high-temperature bacteria, but nothing that can build rockets." His solution? "Space travel is the best thing we can do to extend the life of humanity."
This is someone who thinks in geological time while executing in real time. The same mindset that drives him to worry about humanity's survival over the next billion years also pushes him to completely restructure social media platforms, revolutionise transportation, and now integrate AI into global messaging systems. Whether you find this visionary or grandiose, it explains why his moves often seem disconnected from immediate business logic.
Durov publicly praised Musk's overhaul of X, telling Tucker Carlson that he admired how Musk made the platform more tolerant of what critics called vitriol but what Durov framed as pro-freedom of speech. The "free speech absolutism" that Durov had long promoted was finding new validation in the mainstream tech world.
This philosophical alignment extends beyond platform governance. Both figures share concerns about demographic trends, with Musk repeatedly warning about declining birth rates and potential civilisational collapse. Durov made headlines when he revealed having "over 100 biological kids" through sperm donation, framing it as addressing a global shortage of healthy sperm.
The partnership raises significant concerns about content moderation and platform safety. The Observer highlighted that Grok recently made troubling statements about "white genocide" in South Africa, which xAI blamed on an "unauthorised modification" of its code. Integrating this AI system with Telegram's already contentious content ecosystem could amplify problematic outputs.
Telegram has long been criticised as the "dark web in your pocket" due to criminal activity on the platform. Durov currently faces serious legal challenges in France, where he's been charged with complicity in drug trafficking, fraud, organised crime, and child sexual abuse material. French authorities have restricted his travel, rejecting his request to visit potential US investors while allowing limited travel to Dubai for business and legal obligations.
The platform's light moderation approach, while appealing to free speech advocates, has created an environment where harmful content can flourish. Adding AI capabilities to this ecosystem without robust safeguards could exacerbate existing problems.
This partnership follows a broader trend of social media platforms integrating AI assistants. Meta recently incorporated AI services into WhatsApp, for a platform that boasts about end to end encryption it seemed a somewhat disconnected from logic move.While companies see AI as a value-add and revenue opportunity, users may view it as an unwanted intrusion into their social interactions.
For Musk, this partnership represents another possibly calculated move in what appears to be a long-term strategy rather than isolated decisions. The timing is particularly significant given Musk's recent departure from his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Critics might see this as another example of Musk going too far, pushing boundaries until institutional resistance forces a retreat. But this misses the broader picture of how Musk operates. He puts his money where his mouth is, takes calculated risks that others won't, and consistently delivers transformative results even when the path looks chaotic from the outside. His DOGE experience, despite its controversies and scaled-back ambitions from $1 trillion to $150 billion in cuts, provided valuable insights into government operations and data access that could benefit his AI ventures.
While The Observer reported that Tesla lost $152.4 billion in market value following Musk's break with Donald Trump, Musk's broader positioning suggests he saw this coming and prepared accordingly. His companies still hold $15 billion in government contracts, and with xAI's valuation potentially reaching $100 billion plus, the apparent setbacks may be temporary. This is classic Musk: making moves that appear impulsive or damaging in the short term but serve longer-term strategic objectives. The onlookers are playing Checkers whilst Musk is a Chess Grand Master calculating 12 moves ahead.
Beyond the calculations, Musk's track record speaks to his ability to turn ambitious visions into reality. Neuralink, his brain-computer interface company, recently demonstrated its first patient using a brain implant to control a computer cursor and play chess online. As reported in March 2024, Noland Arbaugh, who was paralysed below the shoulders, received the chip implant and can now play video games for hours—technology that seemed like science fiction just years ago. Starlink has extended internet access to remote areas that traditional infrastructure couldn't reach, proving vital to both civilian and government interests globally.
The transformation of X into an AI development engine has been largely misunderstood, with critics focusing on workforce reductions and advertiser departures while missing the platform's evolution into a crucial data asset. xAI, launched in July 2023 and valued at $24 billion by May 2024, has potentially quadrupled in value. This trajectory suggests that what appeared to be Musk's expensive Twitter gamble was actually a strategic foundation for AI dominance.
Musk's influence now extends across multiple sectors, from space exploration to electric vehicles and increasingly to artificial intelligence. His positioning briefly at the intersection of private enterprise and public policy, combined with his companies' government contracts, creates a unique power dynamic in the tech industry.
For Durov, the partnership offers both financial benefits and technological capabilities while he remains legally constrained in France. The deal provides substantial revenue through the $300 million payment and ongoing subscription revenue sharing, potentially strengthening Telegram's position during a period of legal uncertainty.
The partnership raises important questions about the future of AI integration in messaging platforms, but it also highlights broader concerns about the concentration of power in the tech industry. How will user privacy be protected when AI systems have access to private conversations? What safeguards will prevent AI-generated misinformation from spreading through messaging networks? How will platforms balance free speech principles with responsible AI deployment?
The regulatory landscape adds another layer of complexity. As one AI industry insider observed back in November '24, "It will be interesting to see if the Trump administration winds down the Biden government's promotion of AI safety and responsible AI, such as the AI Bill of Rights." Musk's recent experience leading DOGE, despite its controversial end, provided him direct access to government operations and regulatory processes. His confrontations with Cabinet officials and his eventual stepping back from day-to-day government work haven't diminished his understanding of how federal agencies operate—knowledge that could prove valuable as AI regulation evolves.
The DOGE experience also highlighted Musk's approach to institutional disruption. As The Washington Post reported, one Trump appointee compared DOGE to "overly aggressive chemotherapy," noting that "they got rid of the cancer—and a lot of the healthy cells, too." This willingness to pursue dramatic change, regardless of institutional resistance, may inform how Musk approaches AI development and platform integration through the Telegram partnership.
The technical integration also presents challenges. Successfully incorporating AI into messaging platforms requires careful consideration of user experience, computational resources, and data security. The scale of Telegram's user base makes this integration particularly complex.
What emerges from the seeming debris is a picture of strategic moves that may have appeared random or impulsive but now seem to form a coherent pattern. Musk's apparent gambles—from the Twitter acquisition to the AI push—now appear as logical stepping stones toward global reach and influence.
The partnership represents more than a business deal—it's a test case for how AI will be integrated into global communication platforms and a window into the consolidation of power in the tech industry. The success or failure of this collaboration could influence how other messaging services approach AI integration and what level of content moderation users and regulators will accept.
The deal also highlights the growing influence of a small group of tech leaders in shaping global communication infrastructure. As these platforms become more central to public discourse, the decisions made by figures like Musk and Durov have implications far beyond their companies' bottom lines. With Musk's positioning at the intersection of private enterprise and public policy—holding billions in government contracts while wielding significant political influence—the stakes become even higher.
Yet the 21st century has taught us to expect the unexpected, and what appeared to be isolated business decisions increasingly look like coordinated moves toward unprecedented influence. Musk's departure from DOGE may have seemed like a setback, but it frees him to pursue private sector partnerships like the Telegram deal without the constraints of government service or the "special government employee" limitations that restricted him to 130 days of government work.
The coming months will reveal whether this partnership can deliver on its promises while navigating the complex challenges of AI safety, content moderation, and user acceptance. The stakes extend well beyond the immediate business interests of two controversial tech figures—they touch on fundamental questions about the future of digital communication, the role of AI in our daily interactions, and the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few individuals.
But here's the thing about betting against Musk: it's historically been a losing proposition. His ventures consistently deliver breakthrough technologies that seemed impossible or impractical to conventional wisdom.
Yes, his opinions and actions can be unpalatable to many. Yes, he seemingly goes too far for many and makes moves that others might avoid. But he also changes the world in ways that incremental thinkers simply can't match. The Telegram partnership may face significant hurdles around content moderation, user privacy, and regulatory oversight. However, dismissing it as another Musk gamble misses the pattern of transformative execution that defines his approach to seemingly impossible challenges.
Whether you agree with the methods or not, the results speak for themselves: Musk gets things done.