In a move that is set to reshape the tech landscape, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has acquired the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, in a deal that is entirely stock-based, as announced by Musk in a post on X on Friday.

Musk made the announcement by stating, “xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction.” He further elaborated, “This combination places xAI’s valuation at $80 billion and X’s at $33 billion, after deducting $12 billion in debt from its $45 billion enterprise value.”

Musk elaborated on the strategic alignment of the two companies, describing their futures as “intertwined.” He emphasized, “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent of both entities.”

The acquisition positions X, the influential social media platform Musk acquired in 2022 under its former name, Twitter, firmly under the umbrella of xAI, Musk’s AI startup founded in 2023 to compete with OpenAI. Although xAI’s products, including its AI chatbot Grok, were already integrated into X, this acquisition further consolidates two of Musk’s most prominent companies.

According to reports from publications such as The Wall Street Journal, shares of X and xAI will be exchanged for shares of a new holding company called xAI Holdings Corp. The WSJ also reported that executives at both companies believed that combining the entities would make it easier to secure funding.

Musk, who also leads Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, noted in his post that this deal values X at $33 billion, down from an enterprise value of $45 billion due to the company’s $12 billion debt. Musk originally purchased X for $44 billion in October 2022 and took it private, but its valuation has fluctuated significantly. At one point, Fidelity valued X at less than $10 billion.

In recent months, since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, for whom Musk campaigned and now serves as a special adviser leading DOGE, X’s valuation has risen, largely due to the belief that the platform is more influential now. Musk stated in his post on Friday that X boasts over 600 million active users.

Musk launched xAI in 2023, recruiting top AI researchers from Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and OpenAI, and establishing large AI data centers to compete with other AI developers. To support these efforts, Musk has undertaken significant fundraising, including a $6 billion funding round in December that valued xAI at $45 billion. According to Musk, xAI’s valuation now stands at $80 billion.

xAI has made significant strides in catching up with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. In February, the startup released Grok 3, a state-of-the-art AI model competitive with the industry’s leading models in benchmarks measuring math, science, and coding.

Despite xAI’s successes, Musk continues to challenge OpenAI, a startup he co-founded with Sam Altman. Musk is attempting to hinder OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit model, necessary for future funding, through his lawsuit against OpenAI. Additionally, he submitted a $97 billion takeover bid for Altman’s startup in February, which OpenAI’s board rejected but may have driven up the market price for OpenAI’s assets.

One significant advantage xAI holds over OpenAI and other startups is its access to X, providing a vast body of posts for AI training data and a consumer app to reach users. X’s accumulated posts over the years give xAI a substantial edge in the AI training data race.

Musk has a history of blurring the lines between his companies, which has previously led to legal issues. With xAI’s acquisition of X, the two are now effectively merged, suggesting that X’s true value lies in advancing Musk’s broader AI ambitions.

This story has been updated with additional details about the structure of the deal.