X.AI, an artificial intelligence venture spearheaded by Elon Musk, has lodged a filing with the SEC to generate up to $1 billion through an equity offering.
According to the filing, the company successfully attracted close to $135 million from four investors, with the initial sale taking place on November 29. The company also confirms a “binding and enforceable agreement” for the acquisition of the remaining shares.
Launched in July by Musk, X.AI aspires to “comprehend the real nature of the universe,” as per its website’s statement. As recently as last month, the AI business unveiled a chatbot named Grok, inspired by “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. The company asserts that the newly launched chatbot, which has accumulated two months of training, possesses real-time knowledge of the internet.
X.AI expressed on its website, further stating;
Grok is engineered to respond to queries with a dash of humor and even showcases a rebellious side, therefore it’s not suitable for those who disdain wit! Unlike majority AI systems that rebuff spicy inquiries, Grok will indeed furnish responses.
X.AI envisions Grok as a direct contender to enterprises like ChatGPT creator OpenAI, a venture Musk had a hand in founding before a falling out with co-founder Sam Altman prompted his 2018 exit. Also on the competition list are Google’s Bard technology and Anthropic’s Claude chatbot.
Earlier this year, Musk allegedly acquired thousands of high-end graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia, the type of chip necessary for constructing a large language model.
X.AI is one among a myriad of companies under Musk’s ownership or leadership. Besides his hold over X (formerly Twitter), purchased in the previous year, Musk heads Tesla and SpaceX among others. His ventures include underground tunnel development enterprise The Boring Company and brain-tech startup Neuralink.
In the preceding month, Musk claimed that investors in X (previously known as Twitter) would hold a 25% stake in X.AI.
“As a separate entity from X Corp, our collaboration with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies is key to making strides towards our mission,” X.AI clarifies on its website.
The X.AI team consists of alums hailing from reputed firms like DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Twitter, and Tesla. As per LinkedIn profiles, they’ve contributed to notable projects including DeepMind’s AlphaCode and OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 chatbots.
X.AI was incorporated in Nevada by Musk in March, as per the records.
As for X.AI’s funding, the inaugural sale occurred coincidentally with Musk’s presence at the 2023 DealBook Summit. During the event, in response to advertisers suspending campaigns on X, Musk controversially advised them to “go f*** yourself“. Countless advertisers halted spending on X subsequent to Musk sharing and emphasizing antisemitic remarks.
