Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI is expected to finalize a controversial $15 billion funding round next month at a pre-money valuation of about $230 billion, according to sources cited by CNBC. Allocation is scheduled to close Dec. 19, marking one of the largest capital raises for an AI company this year. Musk previously disputed reports of the fundraise, though multiple sources have confirmed the size and timing of the round.
A significant portion of the new capital is expected to support GPU purchases for training and scaling large language models. The raise reflects ongoing investor appetite for foundational AI builders, following major financings by OpenAI and Anthropic. OpenAI recently completed a $6.6 billion share sale valuing the company at $500 billion, while Anthropic closed a $13 billion round in September.
xAI develops the Grok chatbot, which has faced scrutiny for problematic outputs, and recently launched Grokipedia, an AI-driven knowledge platform. The company was merged with X earlier this year in a deal valuing the social platform at $33 billion.
