Musk's xAI Reportedly in Talks to Raise $6 Billion to Challenge OpenAI

2024-01-29

Under the leadership of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and X, his new startup xAI is in deep negotiations with investors to raise $6 billion. This bold move aims to challenge OpenAI's market position. According to the Financial Times, Musk is in close contact with investors, high-net-worth individuals, and sovereign wealth funds from around the world. This large-scale fundraising will bring xAI's valuation to $20 billion, far exceeding the $1 billion target stated in the filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month. However, raising such a huge amount of money is not easy. According to Bloomberg, Musk denied last week the news of raising $500 million for xAI. In addition, the policies of the U.S. government have also posed challenges to Musk's fundraising plans. Startups that raise billions of dollars typically need to invest heavily in purchasing computer chips and hiring top talent to build general artificial intelligence models. According to CNBC, Microsoft has invested at least $13 billion in OpenAI, holding a 49% stake. Musk's relationship with OpenAI is complex. As an initial investor in 2015, he attempted to take over the company but was unsuccessful and left the nonprofit organization's board of directors in 2018. Over the years, he has expressed concerns about the potential threat of artificial intelligence and founded Neuralink, a company dedicated to developing symbiotic technology between humans and AI. In recent months, he has publicly criticized OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, even expressing mixed feelings towards them at a New York Times event. In December of last year, xAI released its first AI tool, Grok, a chatbot trained on X's social media posts. This innovation marks a significant step for Musk's startup in the field of artificial intelligence. As negotiations between Musk and investors continue, the future development of xAI is worth paying attention to. In the increasingly competitive field of artificial intelligence, whether Musk can successfully raise the necessary funds and utilize his technological innovation capabilities to challenge OpenAI's position will be the focus of industry attention.