Musk unveils joint Tesla-xAI project 'Macrohard', eyes software disruption
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
March 11 (Reuters) - Elon Musk on Wednesday unveiled a joint project between Tesla and his artificial intelligence startup xAI, which he called "Macrohard" or "Digital Optimus" and said that it was a system capable of emulating the functions of software companies.
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.
The launch of Anthropic's Claude Cowork, which can perform a range of computer-based tasks autonomously, has already spooked software investors who fear that agentic AI can disrupt established business models.
Musk's xAI was previously building Macrohard as an AI project that would allow developers to simulate software creations by companies like Microsoft.
"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.
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.
The announcement comes after Tesla entered into an agreement in January to invest about $2 billion to acquire shares in xAI.
SpaceX acquired xAI last month in an all-stock deal that valued the rocket maker at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion, coming ahead of a potential blockbuster initial public offering for SpaceX later this year, with Musk citing orbital data centers as a main reason for the merger.
Records from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that xAI filed a trademark application for "Macrohard" in August 2025.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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