Tech billionaire Elon Musk-led xAI has raised a staggering $6 billion in its Series B funding round, launching it into the company of older and bigger AI startups like Microsoft Corp.-backed OpenAI, and Anthropic, among others.
What Happened: xAI's $6 billion fundraising, pegging its reported valuation at $24 billion, makes Musk's AI startup among the most valuable ones in the world overnight.
However, despite this massive funding round, led by some big names like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, among others, xAI is still not the largest AI startup in the world by valuation.
Sam Altman-led OpenAI wins that award by a big margin – the company's latest valuation reportedly stands at $86 billion, making it more than three times as valuable as xAI.
On the other hand, there is Anthropic – founded in 2021, it has so far raised $7.6 billion, with more than half of it coming from Jeff Bezos' Amazon. Founded by Daria Amodei and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic also consists of several senior members of OpenAI.
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Daria Amodei himself is a former Googler and a former OpenAI member.
Purely in terms of fundraising, Musk's xAI comes third in this list. But in terms of valuation, it's now in second place, ahead of Anthropic.
Here's how OpenAI, xAI, and Anthropic stand in terms of fundraising and valuation.
Why It Matters: Musk's xAI, which is behind the Grok AI model, is reportedly planning to build a supercomputer to take on Microsoft and OpenAI's $100 "Stargate" supercomputer plans.
While xAI has not yet revealed its exact plans, the company says it will have "multiple exciting technology updates and products soon to be announced" over the "coming months."
Musk plans to unveil the supercomputer by the fall of 2025, according to a report by The Information. This is coincidentally the same time when Musk thinks we will have artificial general intelligence or AGI. He has called it the "most important event" in the world's history.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Read Next: Elon Musk Reveals ‘Tough Problem' Battling Russian Jamming Efforts On Starlink Amid Ukraine War
Photo Courtesy: rafapress On Shutterstock.com
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
