Tesla is preparing to hold a shareholder vote on whether the electric vehicle company should invest in xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, in what would be a major financial tie-in between two of his most prominent ventures.

Musk disclosed the plan in a series of posts on X, responding to concerns raised by Tesla retail investors who felt left out of the growing ecosystem of companies linked to the billionaire entrepreneur.

“It’s not up to me. If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago,” Musk wrote. “We will have a shareholder vote on the matter.”

The vote, which Musk confirmed will take place without specifying a timeline, comes amid growing interest from Musk-led companies in supporting xAI’s massive infrastructure push. Just hours before his announcement, Musk confirmed that SpaceX, his aerospace company, is preparing to invest $2 billion into xAI. That investment is part of a broader $5 billion strategic equity round backed by global investors, which Morgan Stanley recently confirmed had been completed.

A New Layer in the Muskonomy

This unfolding development is the latest example of Musk’s strategy to cross-pollinate his empire — an informal network often referred to as the “Muskonomy,” which includes Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and now xAI. According to an earlier pitch deck reported by Bloomberg, xAI has explicitly marketed its connections to Musk’s other ventures as a selling point to investors. The idea is to leverage the existing ecosystems, from computing capacity to distribution channels, across Musk’s enterprises.

In March, xAI acquired Musk’s social media company X (formerly Twitter) in an all-stock deal that valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, further entrenching the synergies across Musk’s corporate footprint.

Since its founding in July 2023, xAI has moved quickly to secure funding and infrastructure. By the end of 2024, the startup had raised over $12 billion through Series A, B, and C rounds. Its latest round — completed in June — combined $5 billion in equity and $5 billion in debt, according to Morgan Stanley. The funds are earmarked for expanding xAI’s data center infrastructure and scaling up its Grok AI chatbot.

xAI expects to generate $1 billion in gross revenue by the end of this year, and projects $13 billion in annual earnings by 2029, Bloomberg previously reported, citing financial disclosures.

The vote to be held among Tesla shareholders could open a new funding avenue for xAI, especially at a time when the company is said to be in preliminary talks for a fresh funding round that could value it between $170 billion and $200 billion, according to the Financial Times. That round is rumored to involve Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which already has an indirect stake in xAI through Kingdom Holdings Company, reportedly investing $800 million.

However, Musk has publicly contradicted those claims. “xAI is not seeking funding right now. We have plenty of capital,” he wrote on X following the FT report.

Navigating Corporate Boundaries

Musk’s suggestion that Tesla invest in xAI sparked concerns over conflicts of interest. It is believed that cross-investment between Musk-led entities could blur corporate governance lines, particularly with Musk serving as CEO of both Tesla and xAI.

Addressing the concerns, Musk clarified that he does not support a merger between Tesla and xAI.

“It would be great [for Tesla to invest in xAI], but subject to board and shareholder approval,” he wrote.

This distinction may be aimed at assuring investors and regulators that Tesla’s capital deployment decisions will follow standard governance procedures.

Tesla has scheduled its annual shareholder meeting for November 6, and while not yet confirmed, the xAI vote could be introduced at that event, according to AP News.

Musk has previously indicated that his priority is to reward loyal investors across his portfolio. In June 2024, he said he would prioritize shareholders of his “other companies, including Tesla,” in the event that any of his businesses go public. “Loyalty deserves loyalty,” he wrote.

With SpaceX already investing in xAI, and the startup gaining traction in the generative AI race against OpenAI and Google, the outcome of Tesla’s shareholder vote could be a pivotal moment — not only for the future of xAI, but also for Musk’s overarching vision to interlock his companies in a shared technological and financial orbit.

If approved, Tesla’s investment in xAI would mark a historic vote of confidence in the AI firm from within Musk’s own empire. But it also raises fundamental questions about governance, transparency, and the consolidation of power across Musk’s sprawling ventures. For now, the ball is in Tesla’s shareholders’ court, with all eyes looking to see whether they’ll choose to double down on the AI arms race under the umbrella of the Muskonomy.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has issued a clarion call about the company’s future—one where AI-powered agents and robots become the new backbone of corporate operations.

In a memo made public on Tuesday, Jassy revealed Amazon is preparing to significantly reduce its corporate workforce in the coming years as it accelerates its shift to generative artificial intelligence and automation.

“As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,” Jassy wrote. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”

Jassy was unequivocal about what lies ahead: a company transformed by what he termed an “agentic future,” where AI agents—software tools capable of performing complex tasks without human initiation—carry out much of the labor traditionally done by people.

Jassy, who has helmed the tech and e-commerce giant since 2021, said the transition would “eventually reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.” With a global workforce of about 1.5 million, Amazon is the second-largest private employer in the U.S., trailing only Walmart.

The CEO’s comments come amid rising internal and external scrutiny of Amazon’s aggressive push into AI and its implications for the future of work. While Amazon shares dipped slightly by 0.4% on Tuesday following the announcement, the long-term economic impact of the shift toward automation remains uncertain.

A Million Robots—and Counting

The CEO’s remarks follow another major milestone for Amazon. Earlier this month, the company deployed its one millionth robot, capping a decade-long push into automation that now spans more than 300 fulfillment centers worldwide. The landmark robot, introduced in a Japanese facility, symbolizes Amazon’s growing reliance on robotics not only in warehousing and logistics but increasingly in knowledge work as well.

From floor-scrubbing machines and automated sorting arms to generative AI models embedded into customer service, marketing, and coding workflows, Amazon is aggressively weaving automation into the fabric of its operations.

Jassy said Amazon is “investing quite expansively” in generative AI tools and infrastructure, claiming that while “many of these agents have yet to be built… they’re coming, and coming fast.”

The company has already rolled out AI tools across a broad range of products and services. Notably, Amazon introduced Alexa+ earlier this year, a major upgrade to its flagship voice assistant that aims to be “more conversational, smarter, personalized.” In e-commerce, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant is already used by tens of millions of customers through features like “Buy for Me” and “Recommended Size.”

Amazon reportedly has more than 1,000 generative AI services either already deployed or in development—a number Jassy described as a “small fraction” of what the company plans to build.

The endgame, according to Jassy, is what he called an “agentic future,” where AI agents—not humans—initiate, manage, and complete a wide range of workplace tasks. These agents, he said, will allow employees to “start almost everything from a more advanced starting point,” freeing humans to think more creatively and strategically.

Industry-Wide Shift

Amazon’s strategy reflects a wider trend in Silicon Valley, where major tech firms are racing to integrate AI into every layer of their operations. Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Apple are all investing billions into AI talent, chips, and infrastructure, seeking to shape how the next era of computing unfolds.

These moves point to a paradigm shift: companies are no longer just automating repetitive physical tasks but increasingly targeting white-collar work—coding, writing, data analysis, and even design.

But Amazon’s vision—particularly Jassy’s open discussion of headcount reduction—stands out for its candor.

Resistance Inside Amazon

Not everyone at Amazon is welcoming this change. Some corporate software engineers told The New York Times they feel their jobs are becoming more “routine, less thoughtful and, crucially, much faster paced.” They describe a work environment now shaped by heightened output expectations and the pressure to integrate AI into every workflow.

Amazon has already laid off more than 100 workers in its Devices and Services division earlier this year, and more cuts may follow as Jassy’s AI vision takes hold.

Still, the CEO remains confident that AI agents will unlock new opportunities for innovation.

“Agents will allow us to start almost everything from a more advanced starting point,” Jassy said. “We’ll be able to focus less on rote work and more on thinking strategically about how to improve customer experiences and invent new ones.”

A Future in Flux

As Amazon joins the ranks of companies radically reshaping their workforces for an AI-dominant future, the balance between productivity gains and job displacement is drawing sharp attention. For a company that once revolutionized e-commerce with two-day delivery, Amazon may now be on the verge of reshaping the white-collar workplace itself—with software agents and warehouse robots leading the charge.

While Jassy emphasizes the efficiency gains and potential for innovation, critics argue that such massive AI integration risks accelerating job displacement, widening income inequality, and intensifying workplace stress. Already, Amazon has been accused of using algorithmic systems to push warehouse workers to meet near-impossible productivity targets—now similar pressures are creeping into the corporate offices.