Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk has announced a joint project between two of his companies, xAI and Tesla (TSLA), called Macrohard. Also dubbed “Digital Optimus,” Musk said that the project will be a system capable of emulating the functions of software companies to disrupt the monopolized software industry.
In a post on his social media platform X, Musk said the project pairs xAI’s Grok large language model, acting as a high-level “navigator,” with a Tesla-developed AI agent that processes real-time computer screen video and keyboard and mouse actions. “In principle, it is capable of emulating the function of entire companies. That is why the program is called MACROHARD, a funny reference to Microsoft,” Musk said on Wednesday. Additionally, Musk said the system would run on Tesla’s in-house AI4 chip paired with xAI’s Nvidia-based server hardware, describing the combination as cost-competitive.
Per Musk, the system would run on Tesla’s AI4 chip, which he priced at $650, paired with xAI’s Nvidia-based cloud hardware. He called it “the only real-time smart AI system” and said it could, in principle, “emulate the function of entire companies.”
The Tesla-xAI announcement comes after the former agreed in January to invest about $2 billion to acquire shares in xAI. Elon Musk’s companies are closely intertwined, with investors often linking their performance and stock gains to one another despite operating in separate sectors. Musk also owns the astronautic giant SpaceX and social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The last month has been big for Elon Musk, who has seen his companies rapidly increase his wealth. Musk’s net worth recently surpassed the $800 billion mark, according to Forbes’ 2026 rich list. This is the largest fortune ever recorded in history and is now marching towards the $1 trillion milestone. Larry Page, the co-founder of Google and the second-wealthiest person in the world, is more than $500 billion behind Musk’s fortune. Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, is third in line with a net worth of $233.3 billion