American billionaire Elon Musk’s xAI company, which develops the Grok application using artificial intelligence technologies, is investing $300 million in the Telegram messenger of Russian Pavel Durov.

Durov himself reported this on Telegram.

“This summer, Telegram users will have access to the best artificial intelligence technology on the market. Elon Musk and I have agreed on a one-year partnership to provide access to the Grok chatbot from xAI to our over a billion users and integrate it into all Telegram applications,” Durov wrote.

He added that the deal with Musk would also strengthen Telegram’s financial position.

“We will receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, plus 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold through Telegram,” Durov specified.

The day before, at the Freedom Forum in Oslo, organized by the American organization Human Rights Foundation (HRF), Durov once again denied accusations of collaboration with the Russian authorities.

“I am Russian! And I would rather die than become someone’s asset,” Durov said in response to the question of whether he is a “Russian asset.”

Durov has been mostly in France since he was detained at Paris airport in August 2024. He was charged with a number of crimes related to organized crime – including complicity in the distribution of drugs and child pornography, as well as refusal to provide information to the authorities upon request.

He is also accused of failing to take action against the criminal use of his messenger by subscribers, in particular, due to the lack of moderation and cooperation with the investigation.

Durov was born in St. Petersburg and was the founder of the Russian social network Vkontakte, which he sold to a business partner of Putin-friendly oligarch Alisher Usmanov in 2014. Durov then left Russia for the UAE and worked on Telegram. He became a French citizen in 2021.

What is known about the possible cooperation between Telegram and the Russian authorities?

As a reminder, in March 2021, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), created at the initiative of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, invested in Telegram together with Mubadala Investment Company.

Earlier, Telegram founder Pavel Durov admitted that the messenger had blocked a number of opposition Russian channels . According to Durov, these channels published the phone numbers and addresses of Russian judges, prosecutors, and security officers involved in the suppression of protests in the Russian Federation, which is against the rules.

In June 2020, Roskomnadzor abandoned the requirement to restrict access to the Telegram messenger, explaining its decision by the willingness of Telegram founder Pavel Durov to cooperate with Russian law enforcement agencies and “counter terrorism and extremism.”

The New York Times reported that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has received tools that allow it to monitor traffic in encrypted correspondence on the Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal messengers.

In addition, analysts at the US CIA and a number of agencies in other countries that work with classified information were banned from using the Telegram messenger, created by Russian Pavel Durov, at work.

In September 2024, the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center of Ukraine  decided to restrict the use of Telegram in government bodies, military formations, as well as at critical infrastructure facilities.

However, the Ukrainian authorities refuse to block Telegram , calling this messenger the main source of news for many Ukrainians, although they admit that Durov’s messenger refuses to block dangerous Telegram channels at the request of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, unlike the Russian special services.

Author:  Mykhailo Orlyuk Джерело: https://censor.net/n3554880

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