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, which acts as a high-level “navigator,” with a Tesla-developed AI agent that processes real-time video of the computer screen and keyboard and mouse actions.
The launch of Anthropic’s Claude Cowork, which can autonomously perform a range of computer-based tasks, has already spooked software investors who fear that agentic AI could disrupt established business models.
Musk’s xAI was previously building Macrohard, an AI project that would allow developers to simulate software creations from 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 agreed in January to invest about $2 billion 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 US Patent and Trademark Office show that xAI filed a trademark application for “Macrohard” in August 2025.
