Elon Musk's xAI valued at $24 billion after fresh funding

Elon Musk’s xAI valued at $24 billion after fresh funding.  Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI raised $6 billion in Series B funding, reaching a post-money valuation of $24 billion as investors bet big on challengers to companies like OpenAI in the intensifying AI race.

The funding round was back by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, the company said in a blog post on Sunday.

The company’s pre-money valuation was $18 billion, Musk said in a post on X, opens new tab.

The money will be used to take xAI’s first products to market, build a modern infrastructure, and accelerate research and development of future technologies, xAI said.

“There will be more to announce in the coming weeks,” Musk said in another X post, in response to the announcement of the funding.

Companies like Microsoft’s (MSFT.O), opens new tab backed OpenAI and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab are among those leading the fierce race for generative AI dominance, driving significant investments and innovation in the rapidly evolving landscape.

Proxy firm advises shareholders to reject Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package.

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis said on Saturday it has urged Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab shareholders to reject a $56 billion pay package for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, which if passed would be the largest pay package for a CEO in corporate America.

The report cited reasons like the “excessive size” of the pay deal, the dilutive effect upon exercise and the concentration of ownership. It also mentioned Musk’s “slate of extraordinarily time-consuming projects” which have expanded with his high-profile purchase of Twitter, now known as X.

The pay package was proposed by Tesla’s board of directors, which has repeatedly come under fire for its close ties with the billionaire. The package has no salary or cash bonus and sets rewards based on Tesla’s market value rising to as much as $650 billion over the 10 years from 2018. The company is currently value at about $571.6 billion, according to LSEG data.

In January, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware’s Court of Chancery voided the original pay package. Musk then sought to move Tesla’s state of incorporation to Texas from Delaware.

Glass Lewis also criticized the proposed move to Texas as offering “uncertain benefits and additional risk” to shareholders.

Tesla has urged shareholders to reaffirm their approval of the compensation.

In an interview this month, Tesla’s board chair Robyn Denholm told the Financial Times that Musk deserves the pay package because the company hit ambitious targets for revenue and its stock price.

Musk became Tesla CEO in 2008. In recent years, he has helped improve results, taking the company to a $15 billion profit from a $2.2 billion loss in 2018 and seven times more vehicles being produce, according, opens new tab to an online campaign website, Vote Tesla.

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