Elon Musk’s AI Startup xAI Raises $6 Billion in Bid to Challenge OpenAI

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has secured $6 billion in funding as part of its effort to compete with OpenAI.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has raised $6 billion (approximately Rs. 49,857 crore) to accelerate its challenge to his former allies at OpenAI.

The Series B round, announced in a blog post on May 26, comes less than a year after xAI's debut and represents one of the larger investments in the emerging field of AI tool development. Musk initially supported artificial intelligence by backing OpenAI until it introduced ChatGPT in late 2022.

However, Musk later withdrew his support from the venture and has advocated caution regarding the potential dangers of the technology. He was part of a significant group of industry leaders who called for a pause in AI development last year.

In November, Musk launched Grok, a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, which was integrated into X.com, the social network formerly known as Twitter. Grok, developed by Musk's xAI, has been the most visible product of the company's efforts. xAI is led by executives with prior experience at Alphabet's DeepMind, Microsoft, and Tesla.

The company plans to utilize the raised funds to bring its initial products to market, establish advanced infrastructure, and expedite the development of future technologies, as stated in the blog post.

Musk mentioned that the company's pre-money valuation was $18 billion (approximately Rs. 1,49,571 crore) in a post on X. The fundraising received support from prominent venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, making it one of the largest fundraisings in the industry thus far.

Microsoft has invested approximately $13 billion (roughly Rs. 1,08,024 crore) in OpenAI, whereas Amazon.com has contributed around $4 billion (roughly Rs. 33,238 crore) to Anthropic.

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has secured $6 billion in funding as part of its effort to compete with OpenAI.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has raised $6 billion (approximately Rs. 49,857 crore) to accelerate its challenge to his former allies at OpenAI.

The Series B round, announced in a blog post on May 26, comes less than a year after xAI's debut and represents one of the larger investments in the emerging field of AI tool development. Musk initially supported artificial intelligence by backing OpenAI until it introduced ChatGPT in late 2022.

However, Musk later withdrew his support from the venture and has advocated caution regarding the potential dangers of the technology. He was part of a significant group of industry leaders who called for a pause in AI development last year.

In November, Musk launched Grok, a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, which was integrated into X.com, the social network formerly known as Twitter. Grok, developed by Musk's xAI, has been the most visible product of the company's efforts. xAI is led by executives with prior experience at Alphabet's DeepMind, Microsoft, and Tesla.

The company plans to utilize the raised funds to bring its initial products to market, establish advanced infrastructure, and expedite the development of future technologies, as stated in the blog post.

Musk mentioned that the company's pre-money valuation was $18 billion (approximately Rs. 1,49,571 crore) in a post on X. The fundraising received support from prominent venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, making it one of the largest fundraisings in the industry thus far.

Microsoft has invested approximately $13 billion (roughly Rs. 1,08,024 crore) in OpenAI, whereas Amazon.com has contributed around $4 billion (roughly Rs. 33,238 crore) to Anthropic.