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Elon Musk’s xAI is in talks to raise up to $6B, the Financial Times reported on Friday, with the billionaire businessman targeting a $20B valuation for the artificial intelligence startup as it takes on rival Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI.
The startup has courted wealthy individuals and investors around the world in recent weeks, the report said, citing multiple people familiar with the matter.
According to the Financial Times, three people with knowledge of the talks said that Musk hoped to raise as much as $6B in fresh equity capital for xAI at a proposed valuation of $20B.
In contrast, last month The Information reported that AI startup Anthropic was in discussions to raise $750M in a funding round led by Menlo Ventures, at a final valuation that could exceed $18B. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News in December reported that OpenAI was in early talks to raise a fresh round of funding at a valuation at or above $100B.
xAI did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha’s request for comment.
The Financial Times said that, according to the people with knowledge of the talks, negotiations between xAI and potential investors were ongoing and that Musk was still testing investor appetite for large sums.
One person said that Musk had also targeted sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, while others said that investors in Japan and South Korea had been approached.
The Financial Times report comes a day after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it had opened an in-depth inquiry into five companies regarding their recent investments and partnerships. The companies were Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Anthropic, Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI.
