Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), a Saudi conglomerate with interests in key sectors such as hotel management, real estate and equity, has announced that it has acquired a key stake in xAI Corporation, an artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk and a team of global engineers, for SAR1.5 billion ($400 million) through participation in the Series C funding round. 

 

This transaction follows KHC's previous investment at the same value in xAI during its Series B funding round. The financing was provided from the company’s internal resources, said KHC in its filing to saudi bourse Tadawul.

 

An innovative enterprise, xAI is set to build artificial intelligence to accelerate human scientific discovery. Its strategy is to develop leading AI models and to work closely with other technology companies associated with its founder including Tesla, SpaceX and X, whose app has more than 500 million users.

 

According to KHC, xAI’s financial statements for the last three years are unavailable as it is a newly established entity. However, it has been valued at $45 billion in the recent Series C funding round, thus reflecting a significant increase from its valuation of $25 billion during the Series B funding round.

 

This transaction further solidifies KHC's strategic partnership with Elon Musk, and follows its strategic stake in X (Twitter), held since 2015, it stated.

 

It forms part of KHC’s business model of securing early stakes in emerging technologies and its ambition to lead and innovate within the AI industry, it added.-TradeArabia News Service