xAI attracted a major client from OpenAI by using an "implementation" strategy

xAI — a new player in the “escape” from competitors

Elon Musk is launching a strategy at his company xAI that sends engineers straight into the offices of potential corporate clients. Bloomberg reports that the goal is to win orders from OpenAI and Anthropic. The first major success was a deal with payment system Shift4.

Shift4 is ready to switch to Grok

Shift4 Payments CEO Taylor Lauber confirmed that after working with xAI specialists, the company plans to gradually abandon ChatGPT in favor of the Grok model. However, for coding-related tasks, Shift4 will continue to use Anthropic’s Claude, as Lauber noted, mentioning NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, a longtime ally of Musk.

Collaboration starts at the end of 2025

The xAI team began working with Shift4 in December 2025, focusing on consumer behavior analysis. The multimillion-dollar contract includes using Grok for everyday tasks and customer loyalty assessment. Lauber highlighted that one advantage of the platform is social signals gathered from the X social network. He also stated that Shift4 plans to enter markets in 15 countries within the next three months – “that would be impossible without AI tools.”

xAI’s shift in business strategy

For a long time, xAI primarily served Musk’s companies (Tesla, SpaceX) and government entities. The pivot to working directly with corporate clients marks a new phase of the company’s development. Against this backdrop, other events are unfolding: a merger with X (formerly Twitter), staff reductions, and a recent scandal over Grok generating inappropriate images.

Trend in the AI industry

Overall, leading developers—OpenAI, Anthropic, and others—are actively hiring their employees to install software directly at clients’ workplaces. Even the creator of ChatGPT is partnering with private investment firms to create a deployment unit for its own technologies.