Elon Musk is once again in the spotlight. His AI company, xAI, is reportedly planning a massive funding round that could push its value to a jaw-dropping $200 billion. This is nearly 10 times more than what it was worth just a year ago.
The company is best known for Grok, a chatbot that lives on Musk’s platform, X (formerly Twitter). Even though Grok has been facing heat for generating hate speech and antisemitic replies, the money keeps flowing in.
From Controversy to Cash
This week, Grok’s new version launched, just days after the last one got slammed for praising Hitler. Musk’s team says they’ll now be stricter on hate content. But that hasn’t slowed investor interest.
In July, xAI raised $10 billion. A month before that, it sold shares worth $300 million. Now, it’s preparing for another big raise. Sources say the new round may officially start next month. The goal? A valuation between $170B and $200B.
Saudi Money and Political Cracks
Big money is expected to come from Saudi Arabia’s PIF (Public Investment Fund). They already have skin in the game through Kingdom Holdings, which invested $800 million in xAI.
This deal shows Musk’s growing friendship with Gulf investors. At the same time, his ties with Donald Trump seem to be breaking. Musk had donated over $250 million to Trump’s campaign. But now, there’s public friction.
Mega-Merger with X
In March, xAI did something wild. It acquired X (Twitter) in an all-stock deal worth $45 billion. After that, their combined value shot to $113 billion. If this new funding round hits the high mark, the joint value could touch $245 billion.
And Musk’s empire keeps growing. His space firm, SpaceX, is also looking to raise $1 billion. It could soon be valued at $400 billion. But not everything is shiny—Tesla shares have dropped 20% this year.
xAI vs OpenAI: The Rivalry
Musk founded xAI in 2023, months after ChatGPT became famous. He was also one of the original founders of OpenAI but left in 2018. Now, he’s one of its biggest critics. OpenAI is currently worth $300 billion.
Even with all the controversy, xAI is climbing fast. Investors are betting big—not just on AI, but on Elon Musk’s brand.
