Telegram Signs $300M Deal With Elon Musk’s xAI to Integrate Grok Into Its Messaging App, TON up 16%

Instant messaging app Telegram has signed a deal with Elon Musk’s xAI to integrate the Grok AI service within the app.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov, revealed on X, that the two companies agreed to a 1-year partnership that would see Telegram receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, in addition to 50% of revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram.

“Together, we win!” Durov wrote.

The deal comes as Telegram looks to raise $1.5 billion via a bond offering that is being backed by the likes of BlackRock, Mubadala, and Citadel. The proceeds of the raise will be used to repurchase debt from Telegram’s earlier bond issuance in 2021.

The messaging giant has 1 billion customers and reported a $540 million profit on $1.4 billion in revenue in 2024.

The TON token, the native token of the TON Network that was developed by Telegram, is now up by 18.5% over the past 24 hours after starting to surge two hours before the announcement was made.

The move continued after the announcement, rising from $3.28 to $3.55.

Read more: Telegram to Raise $1.5B Through Bond Sale Backed by BlackRock and Citadel: WSJ

UPDATE (May 28, 12:38 UTC): Adds details of Telegrams $1.5 billion raise and additional context.