Elon Musk has started raising as much as $1 billion through an equity offering for his AI startup xAI, in a play to ramp up efforts to catch rivals, Google and OpenAI.
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission noted the startup has already raised $134.7 million.
The company said it’s “entered into a binding and enforceable agreement for the purchase and sale” of the remaining $865.3 million.
Musk is raising money valued between $4 billion and $10 billion, a source revealed. This is his first known fundraising round for xAI.
Last month, xAi released an early beta version of the Grok chatbot, which was modeled after ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and integrated into X.
Musk has described Grok as “the best that currently exists.” He is yet to comment on the filing or his plans for the money.
He has also not disclosed specific outside investors, however previously noted investors “will own 25% of xAI.”
The filing lists Musk as the executive officer and director at xAI, while Jared Birchall is listed as its “corporate secretary.” Igor Babuschkin, formerly of Google-owned DeepMind, is leading xAI.
The $1 billion raise is part of a rapid ramp-up at xAI, which was rolled out in July, and the company is working closely with Musk’s other companies including Tesla and X (formerly Twitter).
Musk argued current chatbots showcase a left-wing bias, and he has adopted the need for “TruthGPT,” which will be a “maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.”
The source revealed Musk plans to come to private markets for more money in January, and is expected to raise money for SpaceX and Boring Company next month.
