Mastodawn

Stuck Here 2h ago

#ElonMusk has made a particularly bold demand of his #WallStreet advisers ahead of the #IPO of #SpaceX.

#Musk is requiring banks, law firms, auditors & other advisers working on the IPO to buy subscriptions to #Grok, his #AI #chatbot, which is part of SpaceX, acc/to 4 people with knowledge….

Some of the banks have agreed to spend tens of millions on the chatbot, & they have already started integrating Grok into their #IT systems….

#tech #business #law #SEC #antitrust
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/business/spacex-ipo-grok-elon-musk.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Big Banks Seeking a Piece of SpaceX’s I.P.O. Must Subscribe to Elon Musk’s Grok

Mr. Musk is requiring Wall Street firms to purchase subscriptions to his A.I. chatbot if they want to advise on one of the largest initial public offerings in history.

The New York Times

…Musk’s ability to secure #business from the banks for his #AI #chatbot shows the enormous sway of the world’s richest man over a banking sector clamoring for his business now & into the future.

The banks’ purchases of #Grok subscriptions were not merely good-will gestures, acc/to 3 people with knowledge of the arrangements. #Musk insisted that they purchase the chatbot services. He has also asked the banks to advertise on #X, …but was less adamant about that request, acc/to 2 of those people.

For now, 5 #banks are expected to work on the offering — #BankOfAmerica, #Citigroup, #GoldmanSachs, #JPMorganChase & #MorganStanley. The #LawFirms #GibsonDunn & #DavisPolk are also advising on the deal.

Musk’s agreement with banks is a big score for #SpaceX, which merged with #xAI in February & whose #Grok is a distant 4th in the #AI race behind #OpenAI’s #ChatGPT, #Claude & #Google’s #Gemini.

#Musk #tech #business #law #SEC #antitrust

#Musk has marketed #Grok as the antidote to political correctness & said his #chatbot would not be “woke,” unlike its competitors. In recent months, Grok has been mired in controversy after sharing #antisemitic #content & praise of Adolf #Hitler as well as generating nonconsensual #sexualized images of #women & #girls. Some countries, including Indonesia & Malaysia, have banned Grok, while others have opened investigations into its spread of sexualized material.

#AI #tech #business #law

Toni Aittoniemi 1h ago

@Nonilex He will not at all be editing the system prompts for Grok which those banks are using for his own benefit.

These deals do not in any way grant him insider access to those bank’s systems.

Stuck Here 2h ago

A friend of mine used to bartend at the Four Seasons down in the Caribbean. A guest who was big in the business of selling bottled water didn't want to see any other brands on the property during his family's week-long stay. So his bottled water was the only one for sale during his stay. After he left all the other water came back out of storage. The wealthy guy's water that was left was just handed out for free til it was gone.

Bending over for $$ is ingrained in the service sector.

Strider Uwe 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽2h ago

@Nonilex They are merely good-will gestures, though, even if unacknowledged. From all I hear & read, grok is garbage, so even if they make a good-faith attempt to use it, that will soon fail, in my opinion.

yuhasz01 2h ago

Musk actions are bribes or protection money.....Either way, corrupt and illegal

Anarchic Teapot ⚧️28m ago

@Nonilex The "world's richest man" likely owes the banks more than he can repay, as was the situation when he bought Twitter. They're throwing good money after bad.

It is also possible that demanding your creditors buy from (not invest in) a high-risk company you intend to float on the stock market later this year, thereby bumping up the financial results short-term, could be considered a teensy bit illegal. Wouldn't that be fun if someone decided to investigate it?

Paul_IPv6 2h ago

think we should be tracking which banks. i sure don't want my money at any place doing grok for IT...

[edit to add listing of such banks]

https://masto.ai/@Nonilex/116342437077597948

Nonilex (@[email protected])

For now, 5 #banks are expected to work on the offering — #BankOfAmerica, #Citigroup, #GoldmanSachs, #JPMorganChase & #MorganStanley. The #LawFirms #GibsonDunn & #DavisPolk are also advising on the deal. Musk’s agreement with banks is a big score for #SpaceX, which merged with #xAI in February & whose #Grok is a distant 4th in the #AI race behind #OpenAI’s #ChatGPT, #Claude & #Google’s #Gemini. #Musk #tech #business #law #SEC #antitrust

Mastodon

Ben Evans 1h ago

@paul_ipv6 @Nonilex There is zero chance that any of the banks will actually integrate or use Grok for anything real. This is just a straight-up bribe.

On the off-chance that Manbaby insists on seeing some usage metrics, a small team within the bank will quietly be instructed to write a fake load generator that exercises the Grok API and does nothing with the results.

Paul_IPv6 1h ago

@kittylyst @Nonilex

i'm less concerned with the security aspects than the low business morals and sliminess of it.

not shockingly, 4 of the 5 are already companies i've determined won't get my business ever due to their lack of ethics and customer care concern.

Ben Evans 1h ago

@paul_ipv6 @Nonilex Unfortunately, every single bank with an investment banking division is engaged in this type of currying favour with prospects.

Paul_IPv6 39m ago

@kittylyst @Nonilex

which is why i use a specific broker for investments and credit union for banking...

at whatever point we finally get past a majority GOP congress and WH, there's a slew of banking and investment regs to get back or add to the mix.

Seth Galitzer 2h ago

@Nonilex How is this legal

Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸2h ago

@Nonilex
Wow. If you have any money or investments of any kind at any of those banks, get it out NOW. They can't be trusted.

Skim Shady 2h ago

@realtegan @Nonilex Elon already has your data. We were all DOGEd

Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸2h ago

@woodenmachines @Nonilex

That's no reason to keep giving him more data.

@Nonilex
Both the banks I use are on that list. Anyone have suggestions of banks they are happy with?

El Duvelle 1h ago

@Susibryant

which country are you in?

@elduvelle
I’m in the USA.

El Duvelle 1h ago

@Susibryant
Hmm.. when I was there I used Mascoma Bank, it was a small local bank (New Hampshire) that seemed relatively ethical (for a bank). Maybe there are similar local banks in your state?

Solitha 10m ago

@Susibryant 100% recommend credit unions instead.

Official Kakistocracy Jester 🪓1h ago

@Nonilex Grok, the chatbot that continues to undress children in AI pictures at the request of pedophiles? That Grok?

Crystal_Fish_Caves 1h ago

@Nonilex well if Grok continues to perform as a hateful idiot ai bot banks using it should start repelling customers in 3...2....

Hot Dog Water, will not comply 42m ago

Trojan Whores