Elon Musk's name has been plastered across news headlines after the controversy surrounding his remarks about an antisemitic conspiracy theory. The tech billionaire not only faced criticism, but affected business with one of its companies, X, as well. Now, Musk plans to raise $1 billion for his AI company.
Musk Plans to Advance xAI
There's no shortage of AI startups in the tech world, as artificial intelligence is recognized as the next best thing in the future of business. Of course, the richest man in the world will want a slice of that pie as well by boosting the advancement of his AI company, xAI.
The tech billionaire intends to raise $1 billion in equity investments, based on a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You'd think that advertisers leaving X could mean that no one wants to do business with the Tesla CEO anymore.
However, the potential of AI was enough to change the minds of certain investors. According to The Verge, Musk has already raised $134.7 million. There's a certain level of confidence that investors must have, especially since xAI is relatively new compared to others.
The company was just founded this April with the intention to "understand the true nature of the universe." xAI has already shown what it can create as Grok AI was released. The chatbot sounds more bubbly and conversational than other chatbot products.
It provides more up-to-date responses as it extracts its answers from X in real-time. Unfortunately for non-paying X users, the chatbot is only available to subscribers of X Premium Plus, which will cost $16 a month.
One might assume that xAI and X are under the same company, but the former is not actually operating within X Corp., which is the parent company of X. Regardless, all companies are owned by the tech billionaire, meaning that he won't have to pay for the API.
If you plan on investing in xAI, you better make sure that you have an extra $2 million lying around since that's the minimum for outside investors. "The issuer has entered into a binding and enforceable agreement for the purchase and sale of the Total Remaining to be Sold listed above," the SEC filing states.
Let's Hope for the Best
Elon Musk is a bit of a wild card when it comes to his products and services. So far, customers are happy with the release of the Cybertruck from Tesla, but advertisers have stood with their decision to exit X after Musk's whole antisemitic issue.
While some companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Warner Bros. Discovery did not disclose what the cause is, other companies made it clear that it was the affiliation with Musk that made them take their business elsewhere.
X has been in decline ever since the Tesla CEO took over and somewhat turned the platform into what his ideal social media site looks like. Hopefully, for the investors, xAI would not get the same outcome as X.
