WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF
As AI gets better at coding new software autonomously and faster it will become increasingly easy to clone enterprise software company’s products.
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Elon Musk has officially announced a new project under his Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, xAI, called “Marcohard.” A tongue-in-cheek knock at Microsoft, the new company will aim to simulate the latter’s software offerings using only AI and AI Agents – something that’s becoming increasingly feasible as AI clones platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams in just 30 hours, and will eventually clone TikTok in 30 seconds according to Eric Schmidt.
The stated goal of the new company is to become a “purely AI cognitive software company” that will, eventually, become a potential competitor to Microsoft in the computer software industry.
“It’s a tongue-in-cheek name, but the project is very real!” Musk explained in an X post on the topic. “In principle, given that software companies like Microsoft do not themselves manufacture any physical hardware, it should be possible to simulate them entirely with AI,” he added.
The Future of AI and Cognitive Software, by Keynote Matthew Griffin
Musk is confident such a venture will work become Microsoft (and similar companies) don’t actually make hardware. So, in theory, a purely AI-powered alternative could provide a similar service using only AI agents.
According to reports, Macrohard could make use of Grok (xAI’s chatbot) to spawn specialized AI agents tailored for tasks like coding, image/video generation, text, speech, testing, etc. Other innovations could include virtual user agents that simulate human users interacting with software in virtual machines until the product is polished.
“We are creating a multi-agent AI software company @xAI, where @Grok spawns hundreds of specialized coding and image/video generation/understanding agents all working together and then emulates humans interacting with the software in virtual machines until the result is excellent,” Musk tweeted back in July.
“This is a macro challenge and a hard problem with stiff competition! Can you guess the name of this company?” he added at the time.
“Join @xAI and help build a purely AI software company called Macrohard. It’s a tongue-in-cheek name, but the project is very real!
In principle, given that software companies like Microsoft do not themselves manufacture any physical hardware, it should be possible to simulate… ”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2025
Musk appears to be very serious about the announcement, with news emerging that the company name has already been registered as a trademark. The trademark filing highlights some interesting details, including a wide remit for things like speech/text generation software, AI tools for designing/coding, and even AI-driven video game creation.
Beyond that, little concrete information has been released, but Macrohard could be powered by xAI’s Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, which Musk is rapidly expanding with millions of Nvidia GPUs.
To date, Microsoft has invested billions into OpenAI and integrated AI into Windows and Office. To this end, Musk, who’s been critical of OpenAI and Bill Gates, is positioning Macrohard as a direct competitor.
Musk has been joking/teasing about “Macrohard >> Microsoft” since at least 2021, but only now has filed trademarks and announced it as real. Macrohard fits Musk’s broader play, too.
He increasingly frames Tesla as an “AI robotics company,” is pushing humanoid robots and robotaxis, and now wants to attack software giants directly. Whatever the future of Macrohard has in store, it is clear Musk wants to see if AI can replace entire software companies.
