What We Know About XAI As It Bolsters Itself For AI Race—With $6 Billion In New Funding
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI disclosed Thursday it raised $6 billion in equity financing—the company’s latest step forward as it raises funding and expands its rapidly growing supercomputer site in hopes of cementing itself in a competitive artificial intelligence market.
$6 billion
xAI recently raised nearly $6 billion in equity financing, according to a filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by xAI CFO Jared Birchall, who is also the CEO of the Musk-founded neurotechnology company Neuralink.
A total of 97 investors contributed to the financing, though the filing did not specify who—previous investors included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity and Saudi conglomerate holding company Kingdom Holding in xAI’s Series B funding round of $6 billion that ended in May.
The equity financing comes not long after xAI raised more than $5 billion in a funding round that ended in November and valued the company at $50 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, more than doubling the $24 billion valuation it posted in its Series B.
Nvidia chips
The funding reported by the Journal will reportedly be used in part to buy 100,000 Nvidia chips used to train AI models, one of several ways xAI plans to beef up its operations as it takes on competitors like OpenAI, Google, Meta and Anthropic.
OpenAI
xAI is still developing itself as a large player in the AI market, leaning on the computing power headquartered at its supercomputer site and recently telling investors it reached $100 million in revenue on an annualized basis—meanwhile, OpenAI expects $3.7 billion in annual sales this year.
xAI’s $50 billion valuation rivals Anthropic as the startup reportedly seeks a $40 billion valuation—though OpenAI is positioned well beyond its competitors, boasting a $157 billion valuation amid record-setting weekly active users numbering 300 million.
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