Elon Musk's xAI now valued at 45 Billion
BlackRock And Nvidia Among 97 Investors Partaking In The Latest Fundraising Round
White the majority of X were arguing online about the H-1B1 issue, BlackRock quietly made a huge investment into xAI. Public filings also revealed that xAI is now valued at $45 billion, close to double its previous valuation.
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, secured a significant investment from BlackRock among other investors through a Series C funding round. Here are the details based on available information as of 12/30/2024:
Amount: xAI raised $6 billion in this funding round.
Valuation: The investment round has positioned xAI's valuation at over $40 billion, with some reports placing it at $45 billion or even $50 billion.
Investors: BlackRock was one of the key investors in this round, alongside others like Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), Fidelity Management & Research Company, Kingdom Holdings, Sequoia Capital, and tech firms like Nvidia and AMD. Notably, this round was exclusive to previous investors and individuals who had funded Musk's Twitter acquisition.
Purpose: The funds are designated for the development of xAI's infrastructure, particularly the expansion of its supercomputer "Colossus," which is currently powered by 100,000 Nvidia GPUs with plans to double that number. This investment will also support research and development, aiming to bring xAI's AI products, like the Grok AI model, to market more effectively and advance future technologies.
Context: This investment comes at a time when xAI is actively competing with other AI companies like OpenAI. The significant funding reflects the high stakes and rapid growth in the AI sector, with Musk's vision to use AI in understanding the universe's true nature.
Timeline: The Series C round was announced on December 23, 2024, making it the second major funding round of the year for xAI, following a Series B round in May 2024 where they also raised $6 billion.
This investment underscores the confidence in xAI's potential and its role in the AI market, aiming to challenge established players like OpenAI with its unique approach and technology development.
According to the Financial Times, only investors who’d backed xAI in its previous fundraising round were permitted to participate in this one. Reportedly, investors who helped finance Musk’s Twitter acquisition were given access to up to 25% of xAI’s shares.
“xAI’s most powerful model yet… is currently training and we are now focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products,” xAI said in a statement. “The funds from this financing round will be used to further accelerate our advanced infrastructure, ship groundbreaking products… and accelerate… research and development.”
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