Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup X.AI is seeking to raise up to $1 billion in funding from equity investors, according to a new filing filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday.
CNBC reported that the company, created by Musk in July to compete with other generative AI firms, has already secured approximately $135 million from four investors, with the first transaction occurring on November 29.
The filing noted that the first sale has a "binding and enforceable agreement" for buying the remaining shares.
Grok: The X.AI Chatbot
X.AI, with a stated mission to "understand the true nature of the universe," recently introduced a chatbot named Grok, inspired by "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
The chatbot was developed with two months of training and boasts real-time internet knowledge. X.AI positions Grok to compete with other AI players like OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Google's Bard technology.
The filing suggests a strategic move by the AI startup in the highly competitive landscape. Elon Musk, known for his involvement in various ventures, holds key positions in companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and the Boring Company.
Musk had earlier acquired Twitter and renamed it X, indicating that investors in X would have a 25% stake in X.AI.
Entry into the AI Race of Elon Musk
The team at X.AI comprises professionals with diverse backgrounds, including people from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Twitter, and Tesla. Their collective experience encompasses projects like DeepMind's AlphaCode and OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 chatbots.
Earlier this year, Elon Musk reportedly secured numerous high-powered graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia, which are crucial for constructing large language models.
X.AI's pursuit of significant funding aligns with Musk's vision for advancing AI and its potential applications. But most importantly, it is an official entry into the ever-growing AI race.
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