Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, is reportedly nearing the completion of a funding round that could inject $6 billion into the company. However, as per usual, Musk has denied these reports, saying that xAI is not raising any capital and that he “had no conversations with anyone in this regard.” He shared the statement on X.

On the other hand, multiple reliable sources including Financial Times and TechCrunch have reported that this financial boost could value xAI at $18 billion before the funds are added, with the deal likely wrapping up in the next few weeks.

The reports add that the funding round for xAI, features several notable investors, including Sequoia Capital and Future Ventures, which is managed by Musk’s long-time associate Steve Jurvetson. Valor Equity Partners and Gigafund, both closely linked to Musk’s network, are also investing. The social media platform X also stands to gain, holding a stake in the AI enterprise.

xAI is poised to enhance its offerings by merging the digital with the physical world, leveraging training data from Musk-affiliated enterprises like Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company, and Neuralink. This integration could notably advance technologies such as Tesla’s vehicle fleet and the Optimus robot.

As per FT’s report, xAI is targeting global investors including families in Hong Kong to acquire $6 billion as capital. The goal of this funding is to position xAI as a competitor to giants like Microsoft and OpenAI, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.

Musk is reportedly also approaching Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds as well as investors in Japan and South Korea as he aims to raise xAI’s valuation to 20 billion. Morgan Stanley is coordinating the fundraising efforts, although the bank has chosen not to comment on the matter.

On the other hand, OpenAI has significant backing from Microsoft. The startup secured a whopping $13 billion from Microsoft alone and is working on its next mega funding round at the moment. Meanwhile, Anthropic, which is also one of the biggest AI startups at the moment, has received 6 billion dollars from Google and Amazon.

Meanwhile, xAI has recently unveiled Grok 1.5, its latest and greatest AI model.