Elon Musk, the maverick entrepreneur and tech innovator, is reportedly involved in negotiations to secure a substantial $3 billion investment for his AI startup, xAI. This hefty funding could catapult the firm’s value to a staggering $18 billion.
Musk’s xAI has caught the attention of several high-profile investors keen to bolster its financial strength. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Gigafund, a well-known venture capital firm, and Steve Jurvetson, a seasoned investor, are seriously considering participating in the funding round.
The Journal’s report also alludes to the involvement of a co-founder of another venture capital firm. However, the individual and the company remain unnamed.
The report cautions that the terms of xAI’s funding are not yet set in stone, and plans could potentially shift. However, it appears that recent talks have gained significant traction, indicating a positive momentum towards a deal.
Musk launched xAI last year, seeking an alternative to Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google’s Alphabet. His vision was to create an AI platform that could rival these tech behemoths in terms of capabilities and market presence.
Earlier this year, rumors circulated about xAI being in talks with investors to secure up to $6 billion in funding. However, Musk quickly dismissed these reports, stating that xAI was not seeking capital and he had not had any discussions regarding this.
In March, xAI unveiled an upgraded version of its chatbot, Grok. The new version, dubbed Grok-1.5, is designed to compete directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Grok-1.5 has already been integrated into some user interfaces of X, formerly known as Twitter, an indication of xAI’s strategic partnerships and the chatbot’s growing popularity.
