Elon Musk's AI Company | The Joke That Became Real
What happens when Elon Musk takes a simple wordplay joke and turns it into a real business venture? You get Macrohard (or "Marco Hard" as we like to call it) - the AI company that's literally the opposite of Microsoft. "Macro" is the opposite of "Micro" (large vs. small), and "Hard" is the opposite of "Soft." It's a tongue-in-cheek name that Musk has been joking about since 2021, but in August 2025, it became very real.
This website explores the fascinating journey of the Macrohard joke - from a simple tweet mocking Bill Gates' company to an official trademark filing and xAI venture. Whether you're a tech enthusiast following the Musk-Gates rivalry, an AI industry observer, or simply curious about one of tech's most audacious naming decisions, you'll find the complete story here.
The name "Macrohard" is a deliberate antonym of "Microsoft," constructed by reversing both parts of the name:
Yes, Elon Musk is fully aware that it's an immature joke. He's even acknowledged that the name is "tongue-in-cheek." But beneath the humor lies a serious ambition: to build an AI-only software company that could simulate the operations of traditional software giants like Microsoft.
Musk's vision is to build a company where software is created entirely by AI - no human programmers needed for the actual code production.
"Software companies like Microsoft do not manufacture any physical hardware, so it should be possible to simulate them entirely with AI." - Elon Musk
Grok spawns hundreds of specialized coding and image/video agents working together, emulating humans interacting with software in virtual machines.
Expected to run on xAI's Colossus 2 supercomputer in Memphis, utilizing millions of Nvidia GPUs for massive AI computation.
"Macrohard >> Microsoft"
Posted on X (Twitter)
xAI paid $2,300
U.S. Patent Office
Musk confirms it's real
Posted on X
The Musk-Gates feud began when Elon discovered that Bill Gates had shorted Tesla stock - betting against the electric car company while publicly advocating for climate action. Musk saw this as hypocritical.
The two billionaires have exchanged barbs on social media, with Musk often mocking Gates about everything from electric vehicles to his understanding of AI technology.
Microsoft's massive investment in OpenAI put it at the center of the AI revolution. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI before departing, launched xAI as a competitor - and now Macrohard takes aim directly at Microsoft itself.
With the official announcement of Macrohard, Musk is directly trolling Gates by creating an AI company named as the antithesis of Microsoft. The joke has become a real business venture.
"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 them entirely with AI."
— Elon Musk, August 2025
Everything you need to know about Macrohard (Marco Hard), Elon Musk's AI venture that's designed to be the polar opposite of Microsoft.
Yes! While the name started as a joke in 2021, Elon Musk's xAI filed an official trademark for "Macrohard" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on August 1, 2025, paying $2,300 for two trademark classes. Musk confirmed it's a real project in August 2025, describing it as "a tongue-in-cheek name, but the project is very real."
Macrohard aims to be a "purely AI software company." The trademark application covers "downloadable computer programs and software for artificial production of human speech and text" and "agentic artificial intelligence." The vision is to use AI agents to simulate the operations of software companies like Microsoft - essentially building software with AI rather than human programmers.
The name is a deliberate opposite of "Microsoft." "Macro" means large (opposite of "micro" which means small), and "hard" is the opposite of "soft." It's both a playful jab at Bill Gates' company and a reflection of Musk's ongoing rivalry with Gates. This site uses "Marco Hard" (two words) as a playful variation of the Macrohard name.
A deep dive into Elon Musk's Macrohard announcement and what it means for the AI industry.
Read More →From Tesla shorts to AI competition - the complete history of the tech titans' feud.
Read More →How multi-agent AI systems could revolutionize the way software is built.
Read More →Marco Hard, commonly written as "Macrohard," is Elon Musk's audaciously named AI software company that represents the literal opposite of Microsoft. The name construction is simple yet clever: "Macro" is the antonym of "Micro" (large vs. small), and "Hard" is the opposite of "Soft." What began as a joke tweet in 2021 - "Macrohard >> Microsoft" - has evolved into a legitimate business venture under Musk's xAI umbrella.
On August 1, 2025, xAI filed a trademark application for "Macrohard" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, paying $2,300 for two trademark classes. The application covers "downloadable computer programs and downloadable computer software for the artificial production of human speech and text" as well as "agentic artificial intelligence" applications. Three weeks later, Musk made the official announcement on X (formerly Twitter), inviting engineers to join xAI to build this "purely AI software company."
The vision behind Macrohard is revolutionary: to create a software company where AI does all the work. As Musk explained, "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." The project will leverage xAI's Grok AI to spawn hundreds of specialized coding agents, all working together to create software without human programmers.
The Macrohard name also serves as a deliberate troll aimed at Bill Gates, reflecting the ongoing rivalry between the two tech billionaires. Their feud began when Musk discovered Gates had shorted Tesla stock while publicly advocating for climate solutions. Since then, the two have clashed over electric vehicles, AI development, and technology philosophy. Macrohard represents Musk's most direct challenge yet to Gates' legacy company.