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Elon Musk just raised $10 billion for his AI startup, xAI. Half the funds came from loans, the rest from investors who really want a slice of the Musk pie. The company plans to boost its Memphis-based supercomputer, Colossus, and keep training its AI chatbot, Grok.
Musk is going full throttle to compete with OpenAI and Anthropic. Earlier this year, OpenAI bagged $40 billion and now sits at a $300B valuation. Anthropic isn’t far behind at over $60B.
To supercharge xAI, Musk even sold X (formerly Twitter) to his own AI firm. This quirky transaction valued xAI at $80B, and X at $33B—yes, with debt included. He originally bought Twitter for around $44B in 2022. So yes, Musk kind of sold X to himself.
Meanwhile, Trump is throwing shade. He posted on Truth Social accusing Musk of building his empire with government handouts. He even joked about a new watchdog agency: DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).
Trump’s words? “No more rockets, satellites, or electric cars, and we’d save a fortune! Maybe DOGE should check Musk’s books?”
Musk clapped back on X: “CUT IT ALL. Now.” He’s clearly over the government support debate.
This beef isn’t new. Back in June, a similar tiff cost Tesla $150B in market value. Now the drama’s back, with Musk even calling for a “Porky Pig Party” to stop bloated spending in Washington.
Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Lummis is working on a crypto tax break. Her proposal? No taxes on crypto transactions under $300 (with a $5,000 yearly cap). Plus, tax delays for mined, staked, or airdropped tokens—until they’re sold.
Oh, and Democrats tried to ban ex-government folks from owning memecoins or NFTs for a year. That plan flopped.
