REGULATION
Key Metrics
Valuation
$230B
As of Aug 20, 2026Value Add Pulse research
Total funding
$45B
As of Aug 20, 2026Value Add Pulse research
Employees
~5,479
As of May 2026EstimatedValue Add VC entity registry
Company Snapshot
xAI is a AI infra company, based in San Francisco Bay Area, United States, founded 2023 by Elon Musk, Igor Babuschkin, Tony Wu. Latest valuation $230B (As of Aug 20, 2026, Value Add Pulse research). Total funding $45B (As of Aug 20, 2026).
Recent changes
- Aug 26, 2026Aug 26, 2026xAI Sued Over Grok's Deepfake Training Data Pulse story
- Aug 20, 2026Aug 20, 2026First reported total funding: $45B Value Add Pulse enrichment
- Aug 20, 2026Aug 20, 2026Valuation fell from $230–250B to $230B Value Add Pulse enrichment
- Jul 9, 2026Jul 9, 2026Valuation fell from ~$250B to $230–250B entity-registry reconciliation
- Jun 18, 2026Jun 18, 2026'xAI Is a Failure': A Leading AI Researcher Calls Out Musk's Lab Pulse story
Earlier changes (7)
- May 2026May 2026First reported headcount: ~5,479Estimated entity-registry reconciliation
- Feb 15, 2026Feb 15, 2026Acquired for an undisclosed amount Value Add Pulse enrichment
- Feb 2, 2026Feb 2, 2026Valuation rose from ~$250B (SpaceX merger, Feb 2026) to ~$250BEstimated CNBC — Musk's xAI, SpaceX combo worth $1.25 trillion
- Feb 2026Feb 2026First reported valuation: ~$250B (SpaceX merger, Feb 2026)Estimated CNBC — Musk's xAI, SpaceX combo worth $1.25 trillion
- Jan 8, 2026Jan 8, 2026Raised $20B Series E at a $230B valuation Value Add Pulse enrichment
- 20262026First reported arr: ~$500M (targeting ~$2B for full-year 2026, ~4x)Rumored CNBC — Musk's xAI, SpaceX combo worth $1.25 trillion
- Jul 1, 2025Jul 1, 2025Raised $10B Debt Value Add Pulse enrichment
Funding History
3 events · sources dated per row| Date | Event | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 2026 | acquisition | — | — | Value Add Pulse research | |
| Jan 8, 2026 | Series E | $20B | $230B | Value Add Pulse research | |
| Jul 1, 2025 | Debt | $10B | — | Value Add Pulse research |
Underlying values
| As of | Value | Method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 20, 2026 | $230B | Reported | Value Add Pulse research |
| Jul 9, 2026 | $230–250B | Reported | Value Add VC entity registry |
| Feb 2, 2026 | ~$250B | Estimated | CNBC — Musk's xAI, SpaceX combo worth $1.25 trillion |
| Feb 2026 | ~$250B (SpaceX merger, Feb 2026) | Estimated | CNBC — Musk's xAI, SpaceX combo worth $1.25 trillion |
Investors
Latest Pulse
- Sep 12, 2026Dario Amodei Calls For AI Industry To Slow DownAnthropic CEO Dario Amodei is urging AI companies to deliberately slow the pace of capability gains, and OpenAI's Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk both said within hours that they agree.→
- Sep 8, 2026Leaked contracts show how deep AI labs are in with the PentagonContract documents obtained via a FOIA lawsuit reveal OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI agreed to far closer Pentagon partnerships than their public statements suggested, including training military personnel and forecasting the risks of their own technology.→
- Sep 4, 2026Claude Mythos Aces Booz Allen's Cyber Weapon IndexBooz Allen's benchmark scored Anthropic's Claude Mythos at 80 on its Cyber Weapon Index -- the only model of 18 tested to autonomously complete a full cyberattack kill chain -- well ahead of xAI's Grok-4.5 at 49 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol at 46.→
- Sep 3, 2026What SpaceX's $1.77T IPO War Chest Is BuyingSince its record $75 billion June IPO, SpaceX has used its newly public stock to fund an all-stock merger with xAI and a $60 billion acquisition of Cursor-maker Anysphere -- the most aggressive post-IPO acquisition spree of any 2026 debut.→
- Sep 2, 2026One Git Flaw Can Hijack Claude Code, Cursor, GrokGitSpawn, a newly disclosed vulnerability class, lets a booby-trapped repository silently execute code the moment it's opened in an AI coding agent, with no click or prompt required.→
- Sep 1, 2026Pentagon Rolls Out ChatGPT and Grok to 3M PersonnelThe Defense Department's GenAI.mil platform now offers custom ChatGPT and Grok versions to 3 million military and civilian personnel, with 1.7 million already signed up, cleared to handle sensitive but unclassified government work.→
- Aug 27, 2026xAI Brings Grok 4.6 to Microsoft's Enterprise CloudxAI added Grok 4.6 to Microsoft Foundry, giving enterprise customers direct access to xAI's flagship model with a 500,000-token context window inside Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.→
- Aug 26, 2026xAI Sued Over Grok's Deepfake Training DataA class-action lawsuit accuses xAI of training Grok on unfiltered data and failing to build adequate safeguards against sexualized deepfakes of minors, adding to legal-liability risk for AI image tools.→
- Aug 24, 2026Musk Tells Cursor Team: 'Grok Is Falling Behind'In his first address to Cursor's team since the company entered its orbit, Elon Musk warned staff that Grok is losing ground in coding AI and pushed for tighter integration with xAI.→
- Aug 20, 2026The AI Price War Hiding Inside Gemini's $0.75 Flash PricingGemini 3.7 Flash is priced at $0.75/$3.75 per million tokens through the end of 2026, doubling on January 1, 2027 -- a preview pricing strategy that's pulling Grok 4.6 and every mid-tier model into a race on cost per token, not just benchmarks.→
Coverage Timeline
newest first- Sep 12, 2026REGULATIONDario Amodei Calls For AI Industry To Slow Down→
- Sep 8, 2026REGULATIONLeaked contracts show how deep AI labs are in with the Pentagon$200M each contract→
- Sep 4, 2026AIClaude Mythos Aces Booz Allen's Cyber Weapon Index→
- Sep 3, 2026IPOWhat SpaceX's $1.77T IPO War Chest Is Buying→
- Sep 2, 2026AIOne Git Flaw Can Hijack Claude Code, Cursor, Grok→
- Sep 1, 2026AIPentagon Rolls Out ChatGPT and Grok to 3M Personnel→
- Aug 27, 2026AIxAI Brings Grok 4.6 to Microsoft's Enterprise Cloud→
- Aug 26, 2026AIxAI Sued Over Grok's Deepfake Training DataClass action→
- Aug 24, 2026AIMusk Tells Cursor Team: 'Grok Is Falling Behind'→
- Aug 20, 2026AIThe AI Price War Hiding Inside Gemini's $0.75 Flash Pricing→
- Aug 17, 2026FUNDINGNvidia Discloses $21B Stake in SpaceX$21B disclosed stake→
- Aug 14, 2026FUNDINGNvidia Reveals $21B SpaceX Stake, $30B in Intel$21B + $30B stakes→
- Aug 12, 2026AIGrok 4.6 Ties GPT-5.6 Sol at Half the Price→
- Aug 11, 2026FUNDINGGeneral Catalyst Leads $1.1B Round Into 2-Month-Old River AI$1.1B→
- Jul 31, 2026BIG TECHSpaceX Won't Remove All of xAI's Turbines Until 2027→
- Jul 29, 2026REGULATIONxAI Sues Minnesota Over New Deepfake Law→
- Jul 25, 2026AIGrok Comes To Google Workspace And Microsoft 365→
- Jul 21, 2026IPOSuper Micro Surges 15% on New AI Server Orders Tied to SpaceX+15% on $60B orders→
- Jul 16, 2026REGULATIONxAI Sues Users Over Grok-Generated CSAM→
- Jul 14, 2026AIEnterprise AI Buyers Are Drowning in Model Releases4 major releases, ~2 weeks→
- Jul 13, 2026AIThe Model Release Pileup: What Buyers Should Actually Do5 labs, 3 weeks→
- Jul 8, 2026AIxAI's Grok 4.5 Launches at Half the Price of Rivals→
- Jul 8, 2026AISpaceXAI's Grok 4.5 Launches at Half the Price of Rivals$2/$6 per 1M tokens→
- Jul 1, 2026AISpaceX Has an AI Device Prototype, Report Says — Then Musk Publicly Denies ItDenied by Musk→
- Jun 27, 2026AISoftBank's CEO Isn't Alone in Doubting Elon Musk's Orbital Data Center HypeOrbital compute debate→
- Jun 21, 2026AIxAI's Grok 4.3 Goes Generally Available on Amazon Bedrock -- the Cheapest US Frontier Model There→
- Jun 18, 2026AI'xAI Is a Failure': A Leading AI Researcher Calls Out Musk's Lab3 leaders→
- Jun 16, 2026AIGrok 5 Slips to Q3 -- xAI's 6-Trillion-Parameter Flagship Still in Training→
- Jun 10, 2026AIJune 2026 Becomes the Biggest AI Model Launch Month Ever→
All Coverage
REGULATION
Dario Amodei Calls For AI Industry To Slow Down
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is urging AI companies to deliberately slow the pace of capability gains, and OpenAI's Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk both said within hours that they agree.
DEEP DIVE
REGULATION
Leaked contracts show how deep AI labs are in with the Pentagon
REGULATION$200M each contract
Leaked contracts show how deep AI labs are in with the Pentagon
Contract documents obtained via a FOIA lawsuit reveal OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI agreed to far closer Pentagon partnerships than their public statements suggested, including training military personnel and forecasting the risks of their own technology.
DEEP DIVE
AI
Claude Mythos Aces Booz Allen's Cyber Weapon Index
AI
Claude Mythos Aces Booz Allen's Cyber Weapon Index
Booz Allen's benchmark scored Anthropic's Claude Mythos at 80 on its Cyber Weapon Index -- the only model of 18 tested to autonomously complete a full cyberattack kill chain -- well ahead of xAI's Grok-4.5 at 49 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol at 46.
DEEP DIVE
IPO
What SpaceX's $1.77T IPO War Chest Is Buying
IPO
What SpaceX's $1.77T IPO War Chest Is Buying
Since its record $75 billion June IPO, SpaceX has used its newly public stock to fund an all-stock merger with xAI and a $60 billion acquisition of Cursor-maker Anysphere -- the most aggressive post-IPO acquisition spree of any 2026 debut.
DEEP DIVE
AI
One Git Flaw Can Hijack Claude Code, Cursor, Grok
AI
One Git Flaw Can Hijack Claude Code, Cursor, Grok
GitSpawn, a newly disclosed vulnerability class, lets a booby-trapped repository silently execute code the moment it's opened in an AI coding agent, with no click or prompt required.
DEEP DIVE
AI
Pentagon Rolls Out ChatGPT and Grok to 3M Personnel
AI
Pentagon Rolls Out ChatGPT and Grok to 3M Personnel
The Defense Department's GenAI.mil platform now offers custom ChatGPT and Grok versions to 3 million military and civilian personnel, with 1.7 million already signed up, cleared to handle sensitive but unclassified government work.
DEEP DIVE
AI
xAI Brings Grok 4.6 to Microsoft's Enterprise Cloud
AI
xAI Brings Grok 4.6 to Microsoft's Enterprise Cloud
xAI added Grok 4.6 to Microsoft Foundry, giving enterprise customers direct access to xAI's flagship model with a 500,000-token context window inside Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
DEEP DIVE
AI
xAI Sued Over Grok's Deepfake Training Data
AIClass action
xAI Sued Over Grok's Deepfake Training Data
A class-action lawsuit accuses xAI of training Grok on unfiltered data and failing to build adequate safeguards against sexualized deepfakes of minors, adding to legal-liability risk for AI image tools.
DEEP DIVE
AI
Musk Tells Cursor Team: 'Grok Is Falling Behind'
AI
Musk Tells Cursor Team: 'Grok Is Falling Behind'
In his first address to Cursor's team since the company entered its orbit, Elon Musk warned staff that Grok is losing ground in coding AI and pushed for tighter integration with xAI.
DEEP DIVE
AI
The AI Price War Hiding Inside Gemini's $0.75 Flash Pricing
AI
The AI Price War Hiding Inside Gemini's $0.75 Flash Pricing
Gemini 3.7 Flash is priced at $0.75/$3.75 per million tokens through the end of 2026, doubling on January 1, 2027 -- a preview pricing strategy that's pulling Grok 4.6 and every mid-tier model into a race on cost per token, not just benchmarks.
DEEP DIVE
FUNDING
Nvidia Discloses $21B Stake in SpaceX
FUNDING$21B disclosed stake
Nvidia Discloses $21B Stake in SpaceX
Nvidia disclosed a stake in SpaceX worth roughly $21 billion at the end of Q2, its second-largest equity holding, acquired through its earlier $10 billion investment in xAI before SpaceX absorbed the company.
DEEP DIVE
FUNDING
Nvidia Reveals $21B SpaceX Stake, $30B in Intel
FUNDING$21B + $30B stakes
Nvidia Reveals $21B SpaceX Stake, $30B in Intel
A regulatory filing disclosed Nvidia's SpaceX and Intel stakes are now worth roughly $51 billion combined, the first time the chipmaker has put a number on its SpaceX position since folding its xAI investment into the company.
DEEP DIVE
AI
Grok 4.6 Ties GPT-5.6 Sol at Half the Price
AI
Grok 4.6 Ties GPT-5.6 Sol at Half the Price
SpaceXAI's Grok 4.6 scored 61 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, tying GPT-5.6 Sol Max and surpassing Kimi K3, while pricing at $2/$6 per million tokens -- roughly half the going rate for comparable models.
DEEP DIVE
FUNDING
General Catalyst Leads $1.1B Round Into 2-Month-Old River AI
FUNDING$1.1B
General Catalyst Leads $1.1B Round Into 2-Month-Old River AI
River AI, founded by xAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin, raised $1.1 billion led by General Catalyst just two months after stealth, betting enterprises can train AI models without a dedicated infra team.
DEEP DIVE
BIG TECH
SpaceX Won't Remove All of xAI's Turbines Until 2027
BIG TECH
SpaceX Won't Remove All of xAI's Turbines Until 2027
SpaceX confirmed it will keep running dozens of unpermitted gas turbines powering xAI's Memphis data centers for another year, even as it builds a permanent 1.2-gigawatt gas plant to replace them.
REGULATION
xAI Sues Minnesota Over New Deepfake Law
REGULATION
xAI Sues Minnesota Over New Deepfake Law
Elon Musk's xAI filed a federal lawsuit against Minnesota's attorney general challenging a new state law banning tools that create non-consensual sexualized deepfakes, arguing the statute is an overbroad restriction on speech.
AI
Grok Comes To Google Workspace And Microsoft 365
AI
Grok Comes To Google Workspace And Microsoft 365
xAI launched a free Grok add-on for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 that can analyze spreadsheets, build slides and draft documents, as Elon Musk teased Grok 4.6 and 4.7 arriving within weeks.
IPO
Super Micro Surges 15% on New AI Server Orders Tied to SpaceX
IPO+15% on $60B orders
Super Micro Surges 15% on New AI Server Orders Tied to SpaceX
Super Micro shares jumped 15% after disclosing new AI server orders topped $60 billion and gross margins would nearly double, with CEO Charles Liang citing a new gigawatt data center build with SpaceX and xAI.
REGULATION
xAI Sues Users Over Grok-Generated CSAM
REGULATION
xAI Sues Users Over Grok-Generated CSAM
Elon Musk's xAI filed a federal lawsuit against a user accused of misusing Grok's image generator to create child sexual abuse material, one of the first times an AI company has sued its own users rather than only banning accounts.
AI
Enterprise AI Buyers Are Drowning in Model Releases
AI4 major releases, ~2 weeks
Enterprise AI Buyers Are Drowning in Model Releases
GPT-5.6, Grok 4.5, Claude Fable 5's extended access and a Gemini 3.5 Pro launch expected July 17 have landed within roughly two weeks of each other -- a release pace that's becoming a durable procurement challenge in its own right.
AI
The Model Release Pileup: What Buyers Should Actually Do
AI5 labs, 3 weeks
The Model Release Pileup: What Buyers Should Actually Do
GPT-5.6, Grok 4.5 and a rebuilt Gemini 3.5 Pro have all landed or are landing within weeks of each other -- a release pileup that rewards buyers who wait for real benchmarks over those chasing the newest name.
AI
xAI's Grok 4.5 Launches at Half the Price of Rivals
AI
xAI's Grok 4.5 Launches at Half the Price of Rivals
SpaceXAI's Grok 4.5 launched at $2/$6 per million tokens -- roughly half what comparable frontier models charge -- with Elon Musk calling it "comparable to Opus 4.7, but much faster."
AI
SpaceXAI's Grok 4.5 Launches at Half the Price of Rivals
AI$2/$6 per 1M tokens
SpaceXAI's Grok 4.5 Launches at Half the Price of Rivals
SpaceXAI launched Grok 4.5 priced at $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens, undercutting Anthropic and OpenAI's premium tiers by more than half while claiming comparable coding performance.
AI
SpaceX Has an AI Device Prototype, Report Says — Then Musk Publicly Denies It
AIDenied by Musk
SpaceX Has an AI Device Prototype, Report Says — Then Musk Publicly Denies It
TechCrunch reported July 1 that SpaceX has been developing an AI-focused hardware device that 'sure sounds phone-ish,' citing internal sourcing on a project exploring a Starlink-connected, xAI-powered consumer device. Elon Musk publicly denied the specific report within hours, per The Verge, even as SpaceX's fresh public-market currency (following its roughly $2.1 trillion day-one IPO valuation) and its $60 billion all-stock acquisition of Cursor make a hardware-plus-AI push entirely plausible.
AI
SoftBank's CEO Isn't Alone in Doubting Elon Musk's Orbital Data Center Hype
AIOrbital compute debate
SoftBank's CEO Isn't Alone in Doubting Elon Musk's Orbital Data Center Hype
As Elon Musk pitches data centers in orbit to power the next wave of AI compute, skepticism is mounting -- and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, himself one of AI's biggest spenders, is among the doubters. Critics question the physics, economics and cooling realities of running AI clusters in space, casting the idea as visionary marketing more than near-term infrastructure.
AI
xAI's Grok 4.3 Goes Generally Available on Amazon Bedrock -- the Cheapest US Frontier Model There
AI
xAI's Grok 4.3 Goes Generally Available on Amazon Bedrock -- the Cheapest US Frontier Model There
Amazon made xAI's Grok 4.3 generally available on Bedrock, making xAI the third major independent lab on the platform alongside Anthropic and OpenAI. Priced at $1.25/$2.50 per million input/output tokens with a 1-million-token context window, Grok 4.3 lands as the cheapest US-lab frontier reasoning model on Bedrock.
AI
'xAI Is a Failure': A Leading AI Researcher Calls Out Musk's Lab
AI3 leaders
'xAI Is a Failure': A Leading AI Researcher Calls Out Musk's Lab
One of the field's most influential researchers publicly argued that xAI has failed to become the frontier challenger Elon Musk promised three years ago, as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google pull further ahead on both models and revenue. The critique lands as Musk's attention -- and SpaceX's newly public balance sheet -- sits elsewhere.
AI
Grok 5 Slips to Q3 -- xAI's 6-Trillion-Parameter Flagship Still in Training
AI
Grok 5 Slips to Q3 -- xAI's 6-Trillion-Parameter Flagship Still in Training
xAI's Grok 5, the rumored ~6-trillion-parameter flagship, has missed both its Q1 and Q2 2026 windows and remains in training, with full API access now looking like a Q3 story. Prediction markets price a public release before June 30 at roughly 7%, even as xAI ships smaller updates like Grok Voice and Grok Imagine Video.
AI
June 2026 Becomes the Biggest AI Model Launch Month Ever
AI
June 2026 Becomes the Biggest AI Model Launch Month Ever
Gemini 3.5 Pro, Claude Fable 5/Mythos 5, rumored Sonnet 4.8, and Grok 5 -- four frontier launches in a single month signals the arms race has entered a new phase where competitive moats are measured in weeks, not quarters.
Value Add Research
- AI & Technology · Aug 16, 2026$500M ARR, $1B Burn — xAI Revenue (2026)
- AI & Technology · Jul 19, 2026Mercor's $2B ARR Is Really Closer to $600M Net
- AI & Technology · Jul 19, 2026Scale AI: Meta Paid $14.3B, Now Guiding to Just $1B
- Market & Trends · Jul 2, 2026SpaceX IPO 2026: $135 Price, $1.77T Valuation (SPCX)
- AI & Technology · Jun 26, 2026UAE AI Investment: $100B MGX, 500K Chips Yearly
- AI & Technology · Jun 20, 2026AI Infrastructure: $1T Build, $400B+ 2026 Capex
- AI & Technology · Jun 19, 2026NVIDIA Networking: $13B+ Revenue, InfiniBand & Ethernet
- AI & Technology · Jun 11, 2026xAI Valuation 2026: $230B, Now SpaceX-Owned
Related Companies
Competitors
Shared investors
Trace's Take
The SpaceX merger hands Grok something no other frontier lab has: effectively unlimited capital plus a built-in distribution channel in X. That's the bull case. The bear case is the math — $6.4B burned in a single year on ~$3.2B of revenue, and analysts openly calling the deal 'value destruction.' xAI is the riskiest of the frontier labs: it has the most powerful patron and the least disciplined balance sheet. Whether Musk's bundle outruns the burn is the whole story.
Sources & methodologyshow
Where these figures come from
- CNBC — Musk's xAI, SpaceX combo worth $1.25 trillionmajor outlet1 fact
- Value Add Pulse researchValue Add VC data5 facts
- Value Add VC entity registryunspecified source1 fact
Figures are labelled Reported (a source states it), Estimated, Derived (computed from other facts) or Rumored (in talks / unconfirmed). Rumors never replace a confirmed figure. Each figure keeps its own as-of date; history is preserved rather than overwritten.