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TON Under Pressure After Telegram's Pavel Durov Confirms No xAI Deal Was Signed
"No deal was signed" said Elon Musk, the xAI CEO, in response to an announcement earlier on Wednesday by Telegram's Pavel Durov
Updated May 29, 2025, 8:17 a.m. Published May 28, 2025, 9:48 p.m.
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What to know:
- Elon Musk said a deal to bring xAI's Grok to Telegram has not been finalized, despite earlier reports.
- The announcement of the potential partnership led to a temporary rally in TON, Telegram's associated token.
- Musk's comments led TON's price to drop. Pavel Durov confirmed that a deal hadn't been signed.
Telegram and X have not yet actually signed a deal that would bring xAI's Grok to Telegram, despite Telegram's Pavel Durov announcing it earlier Wednesday, putting sell pressure on TON's recent rally.
The deal would see Telegram receive 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via its platform, along with $300 million in cash and equity as the messaging giant looks to raise $1.5 billion via a bond offering backed by BlackRock, Mubadala, and Citadel, CoinDesk previously reported.
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đ„ This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market. @elonmusk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAIâs @grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps đ€
— Pavel Durov (@durov) May 28, 2025
đȘ This also strengthens Telegramâs financial⊠pic.twitter.com/ZPK550AyRV
"No deal has been signed," xAI CEO Elon Musk posted late Wednesday in response to the Telegram founder's announcement.
TON, a token associated with Telegram, dropped from $3.60 to $3.28 in the moments after the tweet. The token had been on a rally in the hours after the announcement, previously up 14% on-day, according to CoinDesk market data.
Telegram's Pavel Durov later posted on X that Musk's statement was true.
"Agreed in principle, but formalities are pending," he wrote.
UPDATE (May 28, 23:17 UTC) Updates price information, statement from Durov.
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