Highlights:

  • According to a recent Financial Times report, the xAI Corp. funding round is anticipated to elevate its valuation to over USD 24 billion.
  • X Premium subscribers can access the Grok model through BitTorrent and GitHub. xAI asserted that when Grok debuted in November of last year, the chatbot was “designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak” to set it apart from other chatbots using generative AI.

XAI Corp., the generative artificial intelligence startup founded by Elon Musk to rival OpenAI and other AI model manufacturers, aims to finalize a substantial funding round next month. According to a recent Financial Times report, the xAI Corp. funding round is anticipated to elevate its valuation to over USD 24 billion.

According to the report, xAI intends to conclude its USD 6 billion funding round in June, a process initiated last year. Initially scheduled to close this month, the funding round has yet to be finalized. However, sources suggest that xAI is nearing its target, although details remain confidential.

According to the Financial Times, neither Musk nor the company was willing to comment on the report.

The report suggests that Musk’s AI startup is positioned as a competitor to OpenAI and has been presented to Silicon Valley investors using a pitch deck highlighting Musk’s successes at Tesla Inc. and SpaceX Corp. According to the report, the presentation deck highlights that xAI and its leading chatbot, Grok, have access to premium data from X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.

Having access to high-quality data is crucial for training robust large language models.
Access to X’s data could potentially reduce the need for xAI to form partnerships with content providers such as Reddit and News Corp., a strategy that OpenAI is pursuing.

XAI has become a significant player in the generative AI sector after making its Grok chatbot open source. This move is widely viewed as a crucial stride toward democratizing generative AI technology.

X Premium subscribers can access the Grok model through BitTorrent and GitHub. XAI asserted that when Grok debuted in November of last year, the chatbot was “designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak” to set it apart from other chatbots using generative AI.

When the new xAI Corp. funding round wraps up, xAI will reportedly boast a pre-money valuation of USD 18 billion, which doesn’t include the amount raised.

Musk introduced xAI approximately a year ago, stating that its objective is to “understand the true nature of the universe.” He expressed his intention to establish a company capable of competing with industry leaders such as OpenAI and Google LLC’s DeepMind.

The billionaire co-founded and initially supported OpenAI but parted ways with the company several years ago due to disagreements over its direction and departure from open-source principles. Since then, Musk has frequently engaged in public disputes with OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman.

In a remote interview on Thursday at the Viva Technology conference in Paris, Musk stated that the objective of xAI is to be “as truth-seeking as possible.” He critiqued other well-known models, including Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT, for “pandering” to the correctness of politics. He added he wants Grok “to be the funniest AI chatbot.”