Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, has announced the completion of a $6 billion Series B funding round. This funding milestone elevates xAI’s valuation to $24 billion, just 11 months after its launch in July 2023.
The investment round included participation from prominent investors such as Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, and Kingdom Holding.
xAI still falls behind OpenAI
Despite xAI’s rapid growth, it still trails behind OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which has an $80 billion valuation. OpenAI, founded in December 2015, has an eight-year head start over Musk’s AI company. xAI plans to use the new funds to enhance the research and development of its AI systems, aiming to introduce its first product to the market.
Following the funding announcement, Musk reached out to his 184 million followers on X, encouraging them to join his AI company.
In November, xAI released its first AI chatbot, Grok-1. The updated Grok-1.5, announced on April 12, introduced image-understanding capabilities, enabling it to process documents, diagrams, charts, screenshots, and photos. Additionally, in March, the network architecture of Grok-1 was made open-source.
Grok remains in its early stages compared to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, Musk believes it could become a strong competitor by the end of the year.
Also Read: US Senate Reaches Breakthrough Deal to End Shutdown, Crypto Market Awaits Rebound
SpaceX acquired xAI in February
On February 2, 2026, SpaceX announced that it had acquired xAI. The transaction brought xAI’s AI operations into SpaceX, combining Musk’s AI business with the company responsible for rockets and Starlink satellite internet. xAI confirmed the acquisition on its website.
The move had been preceded by reports that SpaceX and xAI were discussing a combination.
Reuters reported in January that a merger could bring Musk’s rockets, Starlink, X and Grok under one corporate structure. xAI is no longer an independent startup simply trying to raise enough money to challenge OpenAI. It is now part of a much larger business with access to SpaceX’s capital, infrastructure and satellite network.
Enjoyed this? Bookmark DeFi Planet, explore related topics, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and CoinMarketCap Community for seamless access to high-quality industry insights
Take control of your crypto portfolio with DEFI PLANET PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.
