24/7 Space News
TECH SPACE
Musk's AI startup raises further $6 bn
Musk's AI startup raises further $6 bn
by AFP Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Dec 24, 2024

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk's startup xAI said it had raised $6 billion from investors in its latest funding round, as it battles stiff competition in the artificial intelligence market.

The firm, whose flagship product is the Grok chatbot, garnered support from US venture capitalists, chipmakers NVIDIA and AMD, and investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar among others.

Musk has repeatedly warned that AI poses a risk to human civilisation, but he is pushing hard for a bigger slice of investment in the sector and xAI already raised $6 billion in May.

The company is now one of the world's most valuable startups with an estimated $50 billion valuation, though still dwarfed by chief competitor OpenAI's estimated $157 billion.

Despite the sky-high estimates, critics have pointed out that AI firms are burning through cash and still have no clear path to profitability.

Announcing the funding on Monday, xAI said it would use the cash injection to "ship groundbreaking products that will be used by billions of people".

It would also "accelerate the research and development of future technologies enabling the company's mission to understand the true nature of the universe".

Musk, who also acts as boss of SpaceX and Tesla and is a chief backer of US president-elect Donald Trump, wrote on his X account that "a lot of compute is needed" to power AI products.

He launched the company in July 2023 shortly after he signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI models.

Musk is currently taking legal action against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which he co-founded as a non-profit in 2015 before leaving in 2018, alleging that its conversion to a for-profit company breaks legally binding commitments.

dax-jxb/rl

X

Tesla

Nvidia

AMD - ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES

BLACKROCK

Morgan Stanley

MICROSOFT

GOOGLE

Amazon.com

Meta

Related Links
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
TECH SPACE
Hyperspectral Raman lidar enables remote plastic detection and analysis
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
A new hyperspectral Raman imaging lidar system capable of remotely detecting and identifying various plastic types has been unveiled by researchers. Designed to help address the global issue of plastic pollution, the technology offers enhanced monitoring and analysis capabilities, particularly for marine environments. "Plastic pollution poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems and human livelihoods, affecting industries like fisheries, tourism, and shipping," explained Toshihiro Somekawa, resea ... read more

TECH SPACE
Five Ways to Explore NASA's Portfolio of Technologies with TechPort 4.0

Space Gardens

NASA names agency veteran as deputy manager of deep space program

SpaceX to launch more private astronaut missions to ISS

TECH SPACE
SpaceX scrubs launch from Florida, but one lifts off from California

Venus Aerospace ignites VDR2 engine in major milestone

Japanese startup's space rocket launch fails

FAA issues License Authorization for SpaceX Starship Flight 7

TECH SPACE
NASA honours Algerian parks with Martian namesakes

Anthropologists urge preservation of human artifacts on Mars

New study questions the potential for liquid brines on Mars

NASA Mars Orbiter captures dust-covered InSight Lander

TECH SPACE
China's space journey continues apace

Shenzhou XIX crew completes successful spacewalk outside Tiangong station

China boosts Lunar and Mars mission capabilities with advanced Long March rockets

Long March 12 set for inaugural launch from Hainan space center

TECH SPACE
UNIBAP: Contec Space Optics orders iX10 solution for satellite constellation

Momentus prices $5M At-The-Market Offering under NASDAQ rules

Sidus Space secures $14M in private placement financing

NASA outlines long-term goals for human presence in low earth orbit

TECH SPACE
Transforming education with virtual reality and artificial intelligence

Unlocking new potential in 2D superconducting polymers

Materials with unexpected electronic properties found in twisted layers

HKUST unveils high-speed thermal-electric aerosol printer for piezoelectric biofilm production

TECH SPACE
Living in the deep, dark, slow lane: Insights from the first global appraisal of microbiomes in Earth's subsurface environments

The light of TRAPPIST-1 b analyzed at two wavelengths reveals key insights into its nature

Planet-forming discs persist longer in early Universe environments

Does Trappist-1 b have an atmosphere after all

TECH SPACE
Jovian vortex hunter catalog reveals stunning insights into Jupiter's atmosphere

Juno identifies localized magma chambers driving Io's volcanic activity

NASA marks ten years of Hubble's Outer Planets Survey

Magnetic tornado is stirring up the haze at Jupiter's poles

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.