A motion put forward by Tesla shareholders, urging the company to invest in the artificial intelligence startup xAI, has failed to gain approval from the board of directors. This outcome casts a shadow of uncertainty over the prospects of the automaker, led by Elon Musk, acquiring a stake in its own AI venture.

According to a regulatory disclosure filed by Tesla on Friday evening (local time), the non-binding proposal garnered 1.06 billion votes in favor, outstripping the 916.3 million votes against it. However, the number of abstentions soared to over 473 million, more than twice the abstentions recorded for any other proposal in this year's proxy voting. This high level of abstention indicates significant hesitation or opposition among shareholders regarding Tesla's potential investment in xAI, posing a notable obstacle to Musk's vision of integrating AI across his business ecosystem.