Musk Denies xAI’s Rumored $15B Raise as Valuation Speculation Soars

Funding Reports Disputed

Elon Musk has denied reports that his artificial intelligence firm, xAI, secured a fresh $15 billion funding round that could have pushed its valuation beyond $200 billion. The denial, posted directly on X, came later than CNBC said the company had closed a Series E raise of that size, and a separate claim of a $10 billion round circulated earlier. Reuters later confirmed Musk’s denial along with the original CNBC report.

The last confirmed financings are far smaller but still among the industry’s largest. xAI raised $6 billion in May 2024 in a Series B round and another $6 billion in December 2024 in a Series C, backed by Valor, Vy Capital, a16z, Sequoia, Fidelity, Kingdom Holding, and chipmakers NVIDIA and AMD. Those rounds lifted its valuation above $40 billion, according to filings at the time.

Investor Takeaway

Expanding Compute Footprint

The funding speculation comes as xAI accelerates construction on Colossus, its planned supercomputing campus in Memphis, Tennesview. Local filings show property purchases and environmental applications tied to the project, which will use turbines until permanent grid connections are complete. Residents and advocacy groups have challenged the air permits, citing pollution concerns in nearby neighborhoods.

City documents indicate the project covers hundreds of acres and involves multiple industrial energy contractors. Musk has described Colossus as “essential infrastructure” for training xAI’s next generation of large models. Analysts estimate that data-center clusters of this scale could cost several billion dollars to develop, roughly matching the amounts cited in the disputed funding reports.

X Takeover and Integration

In March 2025, xAI acquired Musk’s social platform X in an all-stock deal that valued the app at about $33 billion and implied an xAI valuation near $80 billion. The merger gave Musk direct control of both an AI research firm and a global social network — a structure that combines model development with live data streams and a built-in user base.

Grok, xAI’s chatbot, is now integrated into X’s interface, feeding on its posts and replies to refine training and serve users. Premium subscription tiers and API access offer ahead signs of monetization, but financial disclosures on xAI’s revenue remain limited. Analysts following the firm say that, for now, investors are focused less on earnings than on the integration of X’s data and distribution system into xAI’s training pipeline.

Investor Takeaway

Rivalries and Capital Demands

Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before leaving over disagreements on direction and governance. He sued the company in 2024, later dropped the case, and has continued public disputes with its leadership. xAI, launched in 2023, was cast as a return to “understanding the universe,” but rapidly became a commercial contender in the generative AI market.

The firm’s two confirmed 2024 rounds — totaling $12 billion — financed an aggressive hardware build-out, including GPU clusters and networking equipment. NVIDIA and AMD’s participation reflected the tight relationship between chipmakers and AI developers competing for scarce compute supply. Industry analysts say xAI’s spending pace now rivals that of the largest U.S. labs, even as its fundraising disclosures lag behind its expansion.

Policy and Outlook

Political scrutiny of xAI’s Memphis project has mounted alongside its physical growth. Local hearings have sluggished but not halted construction, and state agencies are weighing new environmental reviews. At the identical time, federal regulators are examining AI energy use and data policies more broadly, a debate in which Musk’s firm has become a high-profile test case.

That said, the next milestones for xAI are expected to come from product and regulatory filings rather than funding announcements. Observers are watching for new Grok updates, Memphis permitting outcomes, and any signs of equity or debt placements that would confirm fresh capital. Until then, xAI’s finances remain opaque — a gap between rumor, denial, and the visible pace of one of the AI industry’s most expensive infrastructure projects.