Elon Musk wants to fund up to $6 billion for his AI startup - FT
Elon Musk wants to fund up to $6 billion for his AI startup - FT
Reuters
6:10 p.m. on January 26, 2024
January 26 (Reuters) - According to the Financial Times, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence start-up xAI is in talks to raise up to $6 billion at a proposed valuation of $20 billion. The billionaire entrepreneur hopes to take on OpenAI with this venture, which opened a new tab on Friday.
The start-up is seeking money from sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and has held discussions with family offices in Hong Kong, according to a story opens new tab that cited several people with knowledge of the situation.
With multiple investors writing large cheques to start-ups hoping to cash in on what has drawn Silicon Valley's attention in the last year, the race to develop AI has been intensifying.
The $1 billion target that xAI had stated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month would be significantly surpassed by a $6 billion fundraising effort.
xAI is valued at $20 billion, which is less than OpenAI but comparable to several other rivals like Google-backed Anthropic
According to the Financial Times, Musk has contacted investors in South Korea and Japan about the most recent fundraising effort. A Reuters request for comment was not immediately answered by his office.
The report states that Morgan Stanley (MS.N), opens new tab, is in charge of organising the fundraising. The bank was one of several that provided funding for Musk's acquisition of X, the erstwhile Twitter social media network.
Musk refuted a report published last week that xAI has pledged $500 million in investment from investors, moving it closer to its $1 billion target.
The CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, has expressed his intentions to create AI that is safer in public. In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI; however, in 2018, he left the company's board.
A chatbot named "Grok" from xAI debuted last year, competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Earlier this month, Musk issued a warning regarding the development of AI and robotics outside of Tesla unless he gains greater voting power at the electric vehicle manufacturer. He stated that until he held a 25% voting stake, he would feel uneasy transforming Tesla into an AI leader.
The AI sector has been a rare bright spot in a sombre start-up funding climate because of ChatGPT's growing popularity.
Inflection AI, funded by Microsoft and Anthropic, has also raised money recently.
In Bengaluru, Urvi Dugar, Niket Nishant, and Akash Sriram reported; Anil D'Silva and Shounak Dasgupta edited
Source reuters.com
Comments
Post a Comment