ARK Invest, managed by renowned investor Cathie Wood, has announced a $60 million investment in Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI. Brett Winton, ARK’s Chief Futurist, stated that this stake represents about 2% of ARK’s portfolio, demonstrating the firm’s belief in the promising future of AI.
Elon Musk launched xAI in March 2023 in a challenge against already established AI giants like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Having existed for only just over a year, the startup has already achieved a valuation of approximately $24 billion, thanks to a recent round of funding.
ARK’s investment comes as recent moves suggest the firm is keen on AI-related ventures. ARK revealed last month that it has committed 4% of its total holdings toOpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, as well as 5% in Anthropic, the company responsible for creating the Claude AI model.
Apart from his involvement with xAI, Musk’s thoughts on the future of AI have garnered a great deal of attention. At the VivaTech Paris 2024 conference, Musk voiced his concerns on the current state of AI models, criticizing them for not being “maximally truth-seeking” but instead “pandering to political correctness.” Additionally, Musk made a bold prediction that AI will soon outperform humans in every task, rendering employment unnecessary.
Despite such dramatic claims, the focus remains on the progression of Musk’s new AI venture, xAI, and the considerable financial backing it’s receiving. ARK’s robust investment undoubtedly signals a rising confidence in the potential and future of AI technology.