Tesla incorrectly claims xAI means “eXploratory AI” in Musk pay documents

Tesla’s latest proxy statement claims that Elon Musk’s AI company xAI stands for “eXploratory Artificial Intelligence,” but there’s no evidence the company has ever publicly used this expansion. The discrepancy raises questions about Tesla’s accuracy in documenting Musk’s business ventures as it seeks shareholder approval for a compensation package that could make him a trillionaire.

The big picture: Tesla’s September 5 proxy statement outlined a ten-year compensation plan for Musk tied to aggressive earnings and growth targets that could result in him owning more than a quarter of what would be an $8.5 trillion company.

What you should know: Tesla justified the massive pay package by highlighting Musk’s track record with valuable companies, including “Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Neuralink Corp. and eXploratory Artificial Intelligence or ‘xAI.'”

• The company referred to xAI simply as “xAI” or by its legal name “X.AI Corp.” elsewhere in the document.
• Neither Musk nor xAI appears to have ever publicly stated that the company name stands for “eXploratory artificial intelligence.”

Key details: Business Insider’s investigation found no official sources supporting Tesla’s claim about xAI’s name meaning.

• The phrase “exploratory artificial intelligence” doesn’t appear on xAI’s website, public securities filings, Nevada incorporation documents, or federal lawsuit filings.
• Academic papers occasionally use “XAI” to refer to “explainable” or “exploratory” AI, but not in connection to Musk’s company.
• Musk’s chatbot Grok used the term “exploratory AI” in nine X posts during July and August 2024, but never as another name for xAI.

Company background: X.AI Corp. was incorporated in Nevada in March 2023, with Musk announcing the company’s creation during a July audio livestream.

• The AI company later merged with Musk’s social media company X Corp. earlier this year.
• “The overarching goal of xAI is to build a good AGI with the overarching purpose of just trying to understand the universe,” Musk said during the announcement.

Why this matters: The naming discrepancy highlights potential inaccuracies in Tesla’s documentation of Musk’s business empire, which forms the foundation for justifying his unprecedented compensation package to shareholders.