March 11 - Elon Musk on Wednesday unveiled a joint project between Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab 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 (NVDA.O), opens new tab 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. (Reuters, 2026-03-12)