xAI buys X

Plus OpenAI $40B investment...

Author

Jelani Abdus-Salaam
March 31, 2025

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Welcome back, AI’ers!

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Here’s What’s On The Menu For Today

  • 🧠 AI On My Mind

  • 🤖 xAI buys X

  • ✨ Plus OpenAI $40B investment

  • 📰 News Hot Off The Press

AI ON MY MIND

Happy Monday!

Been thinking about that old Hayao Miyazaki clip making the rounds again.

You know, the one where he calls AI animation "utterly disgusting" after watching a demo in 2016.

The clip's gone viral, but it’s missing the full context.

Miyazaki wasn’t reacting to today’s AI art tools — he was watching a demo showing grotesque, crawling figures created by AI. Something about those movements felt deeply wrong to him as an animator who spent his life capturing the beauty in how living things move.

Miyazaki and other artist like him, believe AI will cause harm to art. Imo, I think it amplifies it.

Not because it replaces the artist, but because it gives more people a way in.

People who never thought they could create now have a spark. People who were stuck now have momentum.

And for those already deep in the craft, it’s like adding a new brush to the toolkit — one with strange, unpredictable strokes that sometimes lead somewhere unexpected.

AI doesn’t feel. It doesn’t dream. But in the right hands, it becomes a shortcut to expression, not a substitute for it.

It’s not the end of art. It’s a shift in who gets to speak, and how fast they can say something worth hearing.

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TODAY’S TOP STORIES

📱 Elon Musk’s xAI Acquires X in Landmark Deal

Elon Musk’s AI company xAI just acquired the social media platform X in an all-stock transaction. X is valued at $33 billion, and xAI at $80 billion. The move combines AI development with a massive stream of user data, positioning Musk’s empire to go full throttle in the AI arms race.

  • xAI’s $80B valuation shows how high the expectations are

  • The plan: use X’s data to train and deploy better AI

  • One of the biggest tech mergers ever, tying Musk’s social media and AI plays together

My Opinion: Interesting. Takes away the liability from Elon and puts it on xAI. Smart.

💰 OpenAI's $40B SoftBank Deal Hinges on For-Profit Switch

OpenAI might be closing a massive $40B funding round, led by SoftBank. But there’s a catch: they need to officially become a for-profit company by the end of 2025.

  • If they don’t flip, the deal shrinks to $20B

  • Microsoft’s still all-in and backing the deal

  • Elon Musk’s not happy about it and has made that known

My Opinion: This moment signals a shift — from research-focused roots to full commercial mode. That shift could shape how OpenAI approaches safety, transparency, and its broader mission.

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OTHER NEWS YOU MAY LIKE

The real story behind Sam Altman's firing from OpenAI reveals internal conflicts and AI safety concerns (LINK)

Peter Thiel warned Sam Altman about AI safety issues before the fallout (LINK)

OpenAI veterans Mira Murati and Ilya Sutskever launch safety-focused AI startups (LINK)

ChatGPT's image tool delayed for free users due to demand (LINK)

Google Maps adds screenshot analysis and AI-powered travel planning (LINK)

North Korea shows off AI suicide drones and early-warning aircraft (LINK)

Chinese startup behind Manus AI seeks $500M valuation (LINK)

Lockheed Martin partners with Google to build national security AI (LINK)

U.S. falling behind China in humanoid robotics (LINK)

AI On Social

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 AI ART

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THAT’S IT FOR TODAY

Until next time, stay safe.

-Best of AI Team

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