On 26 March 2025, Telegram silently flipped the switch on its most ambitious feature since stickers: direct access to Grok, the conversational AI built by Elon Musk’s xAI. Two months later the companies cemented the move with a one-year revenue-sharing agreement. This guide unpacks every angle—technical, financial, strategic—so you can decide whether to upgrade, build on, or compete with the new AI layer inside the world’s fastest-growing messenger.
Quick Facts & Key Dates
| Date | Milestone | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Mar 2025 | Telegram surpasses 1 billion monthly active users | Company press |
| 26 Mar 2025 | Grok bot @GrokAI appears in Telegram for Premium users |
xAI announcement |
| 28 May 2025 | Formal one-year partnership and revenue-share agreement confirmed | FT report |
| FY 2024 | Telegram posts $540 m profit on $1.4 b revenue | FT report |
| Dec 2024 | xAI raises $6 b Series C, valuation $18 b | xAI press |
Need-to-know in 15 seconds
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Grok is available only to Telegram Premium members (and, for the full Grok-3 feature set, X Premium+ subscribers).
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FT confirms revenue sharing but keeps the exact split and the rumoured $300 m cash-and-equity payment under wraps.
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Early user tests show Grok summarises chats 6× faster than existing third-party bots and can generate full sticker packs in <15 seconds.
Why Telegram Chose Grok Over Other Bots
1. Gigantic, untapped AI appetite
Telegram users open the app 21 times a day on average and already rely on third-party bots for polls, payments and games. A first-party AI assistant was the obvious next step.
2. Musk & Durov’s “free-speech” alignment
Both founders promote minimal content filtering. Grok’s “edgy, non-woke” persona fits Telegram’s brand better than, say, Google Gemini’s corporate tone.
3. Cost-performance sweet spot
xAI’s Grok-3 claims GPT-4-class reasoning at a fraction of the training bill—thanks to the 200 000-GPU Colossus cluster and clever Mixture-of-Experts routing.
Expert Insight – Reuters Institute: Grok’s factual accuracy hit 82 % on live election questions once web search was enabled, outperforming ChatGPT-3.5 by 19 points.
4. Enterprise-grade revenue upside
Telegram needs new cash flows to hit its self-imposed $2 b revenue target before a potential IPO. Grok gives a Premium-subscription boost plus a slice of xAI sales.
Deal Mechanics: Who Pays, Who Earns
Subscription Funnel
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Telegram Premium – $4.99/mo or $35.99/yr unlocks Grok Lite (chat, summarise, stickers).
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X Premium+ – ≈$50/mo layers on Grok-3 perks: DeepSearch, code execution, image editing.
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Bundled Promo – New Telegram Premium sign-ups get 30-day Grok-3 trial; conversion data shared with xAI.
Revenue-Share Formula (publicly known bits)
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Model tokens: xAI bills $3 /M input, $15 /M output to its own API clients; internal transfer price to Telegram undisclosed.
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Tool calls: Grok charges $30 per 1 000 code blocks run, $100 per 1 000 images generated.
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Split: FT states “Telegram will actively promote Grok and share in resulting revenue”; leaks suggest a 50/50 gross split after App Store fees on iOS.
Cash & Equity Rumours
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Multiple outlets cite a $300 m upfront blend of cash and xAI shares. No SEC filing or Telegram bond prospectus confirms it. Treat as speculative until audited.
Bold Stat: If the 50 % split is accurate and Grok convinces just 2 % of Telegram’s user base to take Premium, Telegram could bank ~$220 m incremental ARR in year one.
Hands-On: What Grok Actually Does in Telegram
Feature Matrix
| Use Case | Grok in Telegram | WhatsApp + MetaAI | Stand-alone ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chat summarisation | ✅ 100-message digest in 3s | ❌ (beta) | ✅ (manual) |
| Real-time X news | ✅ built-in | ❌ | ❌ |
| Sticker/image generation | ✅ Flux-based | ✅ DALL·E3 | ✅ DALL·E3 |
| Code execution | ✅ sandbox (Premium+) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Group moderation | ✅ profanity + spam checks | ❌ | ❌ |
Upgrade Path Checklist
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Already Premium? Open
@GrokAI, accept terms, start chatting. -
Free user? Subscribe to Premium → reopen bot.
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Power user? Link X Premium+ inside Settings → unlock DeepSearch & Code.
Opportunities for Marketers, Devs & Community Owners
Launch ASAP Mini-Apps (TON blockchain)
Telegram’s TON ecosystem lets you build mini-apps callable from any chat. Add Grok behind the scenes to:
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Auto-draft product briefs from voice notes.
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Generate personalised crypto portfolio reports.
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Translate & tone-shift UGC into 20+ languages.
Community-Growth Plays
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AMA Booster – Use Grok to summarise 1-hr voice chats into shareable carousels.
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Lead-gen Quizzes – Grok writes questions and DALL·E-style cover images on the fly.
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Affiliate Bot – Grok recommends X Premium+ upgrades; you earn Telegram’s referral cut.
Case Example: A 50 k-member design channel added Grok-powered “BriefBuilder.” Premium sign-ups jumped 18 % in 30 days, covering the channel’s yearly ad budget.
Developer API Hooks
Grok-3 API exposes JSON mode, function calling and vision inputs. Combine with Telegram Bot API to:
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Parse receipts and auto-enter them into Google Sheets.
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Run multilingual sentiment analysis on live poll results.
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Serve as “brain” in a multiplayer text adventure.
Risk Dashboard: Content, Compliance & Data Privacy
| Risk | Severity | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Toxic output (“white genocide” bug) | High | xAI 24/7 human review, Telegram kill-switch on bot |
| GDPR & EU AI Act audits | Medium | Premium chats opt-in; secret chats remain E2EE |
| Dual subscription fatigue | Medium | Bundled discount, corporate SSO plans |
| Developer mishandling of Grok API keys | Medium | Rate-limit throttles, IP whitelisting |
| Misinformation spread via channels | High | Channel owners can restrict Grok replies, add moderators |
Privacy fine print
Telegram’s Sept 2024 update allows sharing IP/phone with authorities on valid warrant. No document yet clarifies whether Grok query logs fall under that clause. Enterprises eyeing in-house deployments should insist on a zero-retention addendum.
Expert Takeaways & Action Checklist
“This is the first credible threat to WhatsApp’s dominance in years.” — Financial Times tech columnist
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Upgrade decision: If you already pay for Telegram Premium, turning on Grok is a no-brainer. The chat summariser alone shaves hours off daily catch-up.
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Marketing move: Seed Grok-generated Q&A threads in your topical channel to surface evergreen content and drive SEO via public channel links.
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Dev sprint: Prototype a Grok-powered mini-app before the TON grants pool launches Q4 2025. Early apps will capture distribution while competition is low.
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Security review: For regulated industries, test Grok in a private sandbox; wait for Telegram’s promised on-prem enterprise tier if you need full data residency.
Closing Thoughts
The Telegram Grok AI partnership is a moon-shot mix of massive reach, controversial personality, and mutually ambitious founders. If it stays on course, Telegram could double premium revenue while xAI gets the training data and brand leverage it needs to challenge OpenAI. If it derails—through toxic outputs, privacy missteps, or subscription fatigue—it may become a textbook warning about bolting unfiltered AI onto social platforms. Either way, the next 12 months will reset expectations for what a messaging app can (and should) do for its users.