The media reported that Elon Musk’s startup xAI, which operates in the space of the artificial intelligence industry, was able to raise investment funds for $5 billion as part of a financing round.
Currently, the mentioned startup is valued at $50 billion. According to media reports, the total amount of investments that were raised by xAI in the current year is $11 billion.
The funding round has more than doubled the startup’s valuation. The corresponding figure was fixed at $24 billion in the spring when xAI raised $6 billion.
The startup plans to use the investment to add another 100,000 Nvidia chips to train its artificial intelligence models. The relevant information was published by the media.
It is worth noting that last month, journalists reported that the startup intends to raise several billion dollars as part of the next round of financing. At that time, xAI’s valuation was expected to reach approximately $40 billion.
In September, the startup launched its Colossus 100k H100 training cluster. Elon Musk posted a message on the social media platform X in which he stated that the mentioned digital product is the most powerful artificial intelligence training system in the world. It is also known that it will double in size to 200k (50k H200s) in a few months.
The H200 is an Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU). This product is designed to accelerate generative artificial intelligence systems and large language models.
Nvidia Data Center said on X that xAI’s Colossus is the world’s largest GPU supercomputer. It was also underlined separately that the mentioned supercomputer came online in record time.
It is worth noting that the artificial intelligence industry is currently on a trajectory of active development and intensive scaling. There is increased competition in the relevant space, which is logical since AI is actually the main technology of modernity. Artificial intelligence has already demonstrated its impressive abilities. Powered by AI chatbots can process huge amounts of information materials, including within the framework of an analytical approach, and generate original content. Artificial intelligence can also optimize many workflows and improve the interaction of companies with customers. Moreover, some futurological forecasts provide a significant probability that in the course of its technological evolution, AI as a thinking system existing in a virtual environment will surpass human consciousness in terms of cognitive abilities.
The financial aspect is one of the evidences of the active development of the artificial intelligence industry. In this context, it is worth mentioning that last month, data from Stocklytics was released, according to which AI startups raised investments worth $11.8 billion in the third quarter of 2024. From the beginning of the current year to October, this figure amounted to $53 billion.
Stocklytics experts noted that the artificial intelligence industry continues to be a long-term growth opportunity for venture capital investors, despite the volatility seen in recent months. At the same time, in this context, it was underlined that investors have become more selective about which AI startups to finance. At the same time, the general interest in the industry continues to be high.
Venture capital company Menlo Ventures this week reported that enterprise spending on generative artificial intelligence has reached the $13.8 billion mark this year. In 2023, the corresponding figure was $2.3 billion. The mentioned upward dynamic is because businesses started implementing AI after the first experiments with this technology.
Menlo Ventures Partner Joff Redfern stated that 2024 marks the year that generative artificial intelligence became a mission-critical imperative for the enterprise.
It is worth noting that against the background of the active development and scaling of AI, the issue of cybersecurity has become more relevant. Scammers also have access to artificial intelligence technologies, the use of which has made their activities more sophisticated. One of the tools to counteract the corresponding threat in the virtual space is the personal awareness of users. For example, a query in an Internet search engine, such as how to know if my camera is hacked, will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to the device.
