'Much like Apple': Elon Musk's "Macrohard" project will take a leaf out of Cupertino's book as it takes on Microsoft - outsource the physical, produce the intangible

Date:
Sat, 18 Oct 2025 13:03:00 +0000

Description:
Elon Musk announces Macrohard as an xAI platform designed to rival Microsoft and Apple by combining AI development and external manufacturing partnerships.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Musk announces "Macrohard" to connect xAIs software vision with outsourced manufacturing Project merges AI platform development with Apple-style design and Microsoft-like licensing Macrohard will expand xAIs reach beyond AI
models into wider computing platforms

Elon Musk has announced an ambitious new software and platform project 'hilariously' called "Macrohard".

In a post on X , Musk described the plan, which will be housed within his AI company xAI, as being profoundly impactful at an immense scale.

But what is Macrohard? Essentially it seems to be an AI-driven project which will develop a range of products that will be manufactured by external partners. Taking on Microsoft

Our goal, Musk said, is to create a company that can do anything short of manufacturing physical objects directly, but will be able to do so
indirectly, much like Apple has other companies manufacture their phones.

Newsweek notes the projects framing indicates a potential challenge to Microsofts long-standing platform model.

One commentator on X asked Grok what Macrohard was, and was told by the AI: "The name is a playful pun on "Microsoft," implying a "macro" (large-scale) and "hard" (challenging) approach to AI-driven software development. Musk described it as an effort to simulate an entire software company using AI agents, without manufacturing physical hardware - much like how Microsoft outsources hardware production."

Rather than building devices itself, xAI would set standards, license software, and define system requirements for other companies to use.

This approach would align xAIs ecosystem with Apples design-led model while also reflecting Microsofts Windows licensing strategy.

Newsweek adds that so far there havent been many external job listings connected to Macrohard, suggesting that most of the project work will be handled internally by xAI employees and AI agents capable of writing and improving production-quality software.

The infrastructure behind the project will be supported by Colossus , xAIs supercomputer. The image of the Macrohard logo Musk shared on X (that you can see at the top of the page) was painted on the roof of the Colossus II supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee.

Project details are few and far between right now, but its fair to assume
Musk is looking to expand xAI beyond AI models and into wider computing
areas. The @xAI MACROHARD project will be profoundly impactful at an immense scale Our goal is to create a company that can do anything short of manufacturing physical objects directly, but will be able to do so
indirectly, much like Apple has other companies manufacture their https://t.co/7mDcBOxFLi October 12, 2025

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/much-like-apple-elon-musks-macrohard-project-wil l-take-a-leaf-out-of-cupertinos-book-as-it-takes-on-microsoft-outsource-the-ph ysical-produce-the-intangible


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