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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that he plans for his newest venture, the artificial intelligence startup xAI, to collaborate with the automaker both on the “silicon front” and on the “AI software front.”

Musk also said, during Friday’s live audio session on Twitter Spaces, that xAI will use Twitter data for training the “maximally curious” artificial intelligence systems and products he hopes to build there. Musk did not specify whether and how much Twitter will charge xAI or his other companies for its data.

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When Musk led a buyout of the social media venture in October 2022, Twitter took on $13 billion in new debt. The company has struggled to juice its subscription revenue, and has been sued by ex-employees and vendors for non-payment for completed work or severance.

Several of the other companies where Musk was a founder or serves as CEO, including Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Co., have done business together for years. Some of their transactions have been disclosed in Tesla financial filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

On Friday, without citing evidence, Musk alleged that “Every AI organization on Earth” had used Twitter’s data for training, “in all cases illegally.” It was not clear which laws would have been violated by others’ data scraping. Earlier this month, Twitter sued four unknown parties for data scraping in Texas.

Twitter implemented rate limits on the social media platform in recent weeks because, Musk claimed, it was “being scraped like crazy.” He said, “We had multiple entities scraping every tweet ever made, and trying to do so in like, basically a span of days. So — this was bringing the system to its knees. So we had to take action.” He apologized for the inconvenience of the rate limiting.

In light of widespread use of Twitter data by AI software developers, Musk said, “I guess we will use the public tweets — obviously not anything private — for training as well, just like basically everyone else has.”

Twitter’s data set appeals for “text training,” and “image and video training,” Musk said. However, he specified that AI systems need more than human-created data and he was hoping that xAI could follow in the footsteps of Alphabet-owned DeepMind’s Alpha Zero, a computer program that achieved a masterful level of play in three games, chess, shogi and go, after training by playing these games against itself.

A Tesla fan and promoter, Omar Qazi (known as Whole Mars Catalog on Twitter) asked Musk a few questions about how he plans for xAI to work with Tesla during the Spaces event. Among other things, he asked whether xAI would potentially use Nvidia- or Tesla-made silicon for data processing.

Musk said, “That’s sort of a Tesla question. Tesla is building custom silicon. I wouldn’t call anything that Tesla’s producing a ‘GPU’ although one can characterize it in GPU equivalents.” He then spoke about Tesla’s in-vehicle hardware, which enables the company’s advanced driver assistance systems to work in its cars. The systems are marketed as Autopilot and Full Self Driving capability in the US.

Tesla has been promising fans a robotaxi, or self-driving vehicle, for years. At that time, Musk said a cross-country demo with a Tesla car would be possible without a single human intervention by the end of 2017. In 2019, Tesla raised billions of dollars with the promise of a million robotaxi-ready Tesla vehicles on the road in a year. So far, none of Tesla’s vehicles are capable of operating without a human driver ready to steer or brake at any time.

Musk said on Twitter Spaces on Friday that Tesla’s hardware 4, which is shipping in now, is “three-to-five times more capable than hardware 3,” and promised “hardware 5” would come along in a few years and would be “four or five times more capable” than its current version.

The CEO also discussed Dojo, a supercomputer Tesla is developing for AI machine learning and computer vision training purposes. Tesla uses video clips and data from its customers’ vehicles to improve existing software, or develop new features.

Musk said that the eventual AI language model that xAI will presumably develop won’t be “politically correct.” The CEO, who has repeatedly attacked “woke” or progressive values, said “I think our AI can give answers that people may find controversial even though they are actually true.”

The Tesla CEO said that xAI will need to develop technology that “understands the physical world and not just the Internet,” and he thinks that Tesla’s driving data will help it on that front.

Walter Isaacson, the author of an Elon Musk biography coming out later this year, asked Musk about Optimus, a humanoid robot Tesla is developing with the aim of using it in manufacturing. Musk said that the robot is still in its “early stages” and his team needs to find a way that users will be able to easily turn it off.

Tesla showed off a design for a humanoid robot called Optimus at its AI day in September 2022. Tesla executive are expected to share updates on this and more on an earnings call next Wednesday.

CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian contributed reporting.

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Tech, semiconductor stocks bounce on tariff optimism, Nvidia jumps 7%

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Tech, semiconductor stocks bounce on tariff optimism, Nvidia jumps 7%

Technology stocks bounced Tuesday after three rocky trading sessions, spurred by rising optimism that President Donald Trump could potentially negotiate tariff deals with world leaders.

Nvidia led the Magnificent Seven group’s gains, rallying about 7%. Meta Platforms, Amazon, Tesla, Apple and Microsoft jumped at least 4% each. Alphabet rose about 3%.

The sector is coming off a wild trading session after speculation that the White House could potentially delay tariffs fueled volatile swings. Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Nvidia finished higher, while Apple, Microsoft and Tesla posted losses.

Trump’s wide-sweeping tariff plans have sparked violent turbulence over the last three trading sessions. Trading volume on Monday hit its highest in nearly two decades. Technology stocks gyrated after the Nasdaq Composite posted its worst week in five years and the Magnificent Seven group lost $1.8 trillion in market value over two trading sessions.

Semiconductor stocks also rebounded Tuesday, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF jumping more than 5% to build on a more than 2% gain from the previous session. Advanced Micro Devices, Lam Research and Micron Technology jumped about 6%.

Chipmakers were excluded from the recent tariffs, but have come under pressure on worries that higher duties could diminish demand for products they are used in and slow the economy. The sector is also expected to see tariffs further down the road.

Elsewhere, Broadcom surged 9% after announcing a $10 billion share buyback plan through the end of the year. Marvell Technology also bounced more than 9% after agreeing to sell its auto ethernet business for $2.5 billion in cash to Infineon Technologies.

WATCH: Tariff volatility erases majority of AI stock gains

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Digital health startup Transcarent takes Accolade private in $621 million deal

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Digital health startup Transcarent takes Accolade private in 1 million deal

Glen Tullman, chairman and chief executive officer at Livongo Health Inc., speaks during the 2015 Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Digital health startup Transcarent on Tuesday announced it completed its acquisition of Accolade in a deal valued at roughly $621 million. 

Transcarent first announced the acquisition in January, and the company said it has received all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals to carry out the transaction. Accolade shareholders received $7.03 per share in cash, and its common stock will no longer trade on the Nasdaq, according to a release.

“Adding Accolade’s people and capabilities will significantly enhance our existing offerings,” Transcarent CEO Glen Tullman said in a statement. “We’re creating an entirely new way to experience health and care. We are truly better together.” 

Transcarent offers at-risk pricing models to self-insured employers to help their workers quickly access care and navigate benefits. As of May, the company had raised around $450 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion. Transcarent also earned a spot on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list last year.

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Accolade offers care delivery, navigation and advocacy services. The company went public during the Covid pandemic in 2020 as investors began pouring billions of dollars into digital health, but the stock tumbled in the years following.

Accolade is the latest in a string of digital health companies to exit the public markets as the sector struggles to adjust to a more muted growth environment. 

Transcarent said the executive leadership team will report to Tullman and includes representatives from both organizations. Accolade’s Kristen Bruzek will serve as executive vice president of care delivery operations, for instance.  

Tullman is no stranger to overseeing major deals in digital health. He previously helmed Livongo, which was acquired by the virtual-care provider Teladoc in a 2020 agreement that valued the company at $18.5 billion.

General Catalyst and Tullman’s 62 Ventures led the acquisition’s financing, with additional participation from new and existing investors, the release said. The companies also leveraged cash from their combined balance sheet, and JP Morgan led the debt financing.

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Drone delivery startup Zipline expands to Texas with Walmart partnership

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Drone delivery startup Zipline expands to Texas with Walmart partnership

A drone operator loads a Walmart package into Zipline’s P1 fixed-wing drone for delivery to a customer home in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 30, 2023.

Bunee Tomlinson

Zipline, a startup that delivers everything from vaccines to ice cream via electric autonomous drones, expanded its service to the Dallas area on Tuesday through a partnership with Walmart.

In Mesquite, Texas, about 15 miles east of Dallas, Walmart customers can sign up to receive orders within 30 minutes, delivered on Zipline’s newest unmanned aerial vehicles, known as P2 Zips.

The drones are capable of carrying up to eight pounds worth of cargo within a 10-mile radius, and can land a package on a space as small as a table or doorstep. The company, which ranked 21st on CNBC’s 2024 Disruptor 50 list, plans to expand soon in the Dallas metropolitan area.

Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said P2 Zips have “dinner plate-level” accuracy. They employ lift and cruise propellers and feature a fixed wing that helps them maneuver quietly, even through rain or gusts of wind up to 45 miles per hour.

In the delivery process, a P2 Zip will hover around 300 feet above ground level and dispatch a mini-aircraft with a container called the delivery zip, which descends on a long tether and moves into place using fan-like thrusters before setting down and allowing package retrieval.

Both the P2 Zip and the delivery zip use cameras, other sensors and Nvidia chips to determine what’s happening in the environment around them, and to avoid obstacles while making a delivery.

In March 2025, Zipline announced that its drones have logged more than 100 million autonomous miles of flight to-date, a number equivalent to flying more than 4,000 loops around the planet, or 200 lunar round trips, the company said in a video to mark the milestone.

Since it began operations in 2016, Rinaudo Cliffton said, Zipline has completed around 1.5 million deliveries, far more than competitors in the West. Wing, a Zipline rival focused on residential deliveries, has reported more than 450,000 deliveries since 2012.

Zipline initially focused on logistics in health care, making deliveries by drone to clinics and hospitals in nations where infrastructure sometimes impeded timely access to life-saving medicines, blood, vaccines and personal protective equipment. The company, valued at $4.2 billion in a 2023 financing round, is now making deliveries in Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Japan and the U.S., and expanded well beyond hospitals and clinics.

In addition to Walmart, customers include Sweetgreen, Chipotle and other quick-serve restaurants, as well as health clinics and hospital systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic.

Zipline’s launch in Mesquite comes days after President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread tariffs roiled markets on concern that companies would face rising costs and a slowdown in consumers spending. Rinaudo Cliffton said he doesn’t anticipate massive impediments to Zipline’s business, as its drones are built in the U.S., with manufacturing and testing in South San Francisco.

WATCH: Zipline releases drone for rapid home delivery

Zipline releases new drone designed for rapid home deliveries

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