Big Banks Seeking a Piece of SpaceX’s I.P.O. Must Subscribe to Elon Musk’s Grok - The New York Times

Mr. Musk is requiring banks, law firms, auditors and other advisers working on the I.P.O. to buy subscriptions to Grok, his artificial intelligence chatbot, which is part of SpaceX, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly about confidential discussions. Some of the banks have agreed to spend tens of millions on the chatbot, and they have already started integrating Grok into their I.T. systems, three of the people said.

Mr. Musk’s ability to secure business from the banks for his A.I. chatbot also shows the enormous sway of the world’s richest man over a banking sector clamoring for his business now and into the future.

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

Mr. Musk insisted that they purchase the chatbot services. He has also asked the banks to advertise on X, his social media site, which is also owned by SpaceX, but was less adamant about that request, according to two of those people.