(Reuters) -Elon Musk’s xAI has raised $10 billion, bringing the AI firm’s post-money valuation to $200 billion, CNBC reported on Friday citing sources.
xAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Investor enthusiasm towards AI startups has remained strong despite doubts over the tech industry’s spending.
The $200 billion valuation would be an over twofold jump from the $75 billion in July, according to data from Pitchbook.
It would also make xAI among the most valuable companies in the world behind OpenAI, China’s Bytedance and Musk’s SpaceX.
The funding could go to building data centers using Nvidia and AMD graphics processing units, needed to develop next-generation AI, as well as to hire expensive talent, CNBC said.
The AI startup has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, as it looks to compete more effectively with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called Colossus, is touted as the largest in the world.
OpenAI is in early-stage discussions about a stock sale that would allow employees to cash out and could value the company at about $500 billion, Reuters had reported in August, while ByteDance is set to launch a new employee share buyback that will value the Chinese technology giant at more than $330 billion.
Anthropic had said it raised $13 billion at a post-money valuation of $183 billion earlier this month.
Morgan Stanley had said in late June xAI had completed a $5 billion debt raise alongside a separate $5 billion strategic equity investment, as the startup looked to expand its AI infrastructure through data centers amid intense competition.
The AI startup acquired X, Musk’s social media business formerly known as Twitter, in March.
Musk had launched xAI in July 2023 as an alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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