We prove a positive characteristic version of Ax’s theorem on the intersection of an algebraic subvariety and an analytic subgroup of an algebraic group [Ax, Some topics in differential algebraic geometry. I. Analytic subgroups of algebraic groups, Amer. J. Math.94 (1972), 1195–1204]. Our result is stated in a more general context of a formal map between an algebraic variety and an algebraic group. We derive transcendence results of Ax–Schanuel type.