Elon Musk is demanding that the banks handling the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX subscribe to his Grok artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.
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New trading tool for TSLA bearsThe New York Times (NYT) is reporting that Musk, who is CEO of both SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), is demanding that banks such as Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) buy subscriptions to Grok, the AI chatbot that is part of SpaceX.
Musk is reportedly making the same demand of the law firms, auditors, and other advisers working on the IPO of SpaceX, which is expected to be the biggest market debut ever for a company. Considering Musk has more than 20 banks lined up to work on the IPO, the Grok subscriptions could be lucrative for SpaceX.
Grok Controversies
Some of the banks have reportedly agreed to spend tens of millions of dollars on the chatbot and have started integrating Grok into their information technology (I.T. ) systems. SpaceX is expected to raise $75 billion at a $2 trillion valuation in its highly anticipated IPO this June.
Banks working on the SpaceX IPO are expected to generate fees in excess of $500 million for advising on the deal. However, Grok has proven to be controversial. The chatbot has shared antisemitic content and praised Adolf Hitler. It has also generated nonconsensual sexualized images of women and girls. Some countries have banned Grok.
Musk has marketed Grok as the antidote to political correctness and said that his chatbot is not “woke.”
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