Elon Musk tells xAI staff company could lead global AI race by 2026 if it survives critical window

Elon Musk Has an Optimistic Message for xAI Staff, According to a Leaked Meeting

At an all-hands meeting at xAI's San Francisco headquarters last week, Musk delivered a notably optimistic message about the company's future to xAI staff, according to Business Insider. He framed the next two to three years as a make-or-break window in which rapid scaling of computing and data resources will determine the long-term winners in the AI race. A central part of his optimism is the company's technical development and its ambitions around artificial general intelligence (AGI) or systems that match or exceed human capabilities. Musk suggested that xAI might reach AGI as soon as 2026, tying that prediction to the company's upcoming Grok 5 AI model, which has a release date of early 2026. Related: Elon Musk's xAI Is Paying Up to $208,000 Per Year For an AI Video Game Tutor. Here's What It Requires. Musk also told staff that xAI has an advantage over other AI companies because it can quickly raise money. The startup can tap into $20 billion to $30 billion in funding per year. As of last month, xAI was in advanced talks to raise $15 billion in its latest funding round. xAI could also take advantage of its closeness to Musk's other companies. For example, Tesla, the electric vehicle company that Musk also runs, incorporated Grok into its cars earlier this year. The move showed how Musk's ties to various firms could accelerate xAI's product deployment. xAI's rapid data center expansion, a project internally called "Colossus," is an additional key strategic advantage, according to Musk. Earlier this year, xAI said it had about 200,000 GPUs, or AI chips. The startup is planning to scale to roughly one million GPUs for its data centers. Related: Elon Musk, Richest Person in the World, Claims Technology Will Make Money 'Irrelevant' The overall atmosphere at the all-hands meeting was "peppy," an insider told BI. Workers noted that Musk appeared content with xAI's progress. He talked about the possibility of building data centers in space and his plans to colonize Mars. He also spoke about his vision of allowing Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot to run space-based data centers. Musk has yet to bring the Optimus robots to market. He has previously said that the robots could be priced between $20,000 and $30,000 once they reach full-scale production. Ready to explore everything on Entrepreneur.com? December is your free pass to Entrepreneur+. Enjoy complete access, no strings attached. Claim your free month.

Elon Musk says xAI could become a global AI leader, if it survives the next three years

xAI is expanding rapidly, with heavy investment in data centres and closer integration with Tesla, but it still faces tough competition from established AI firms. Elon Musk's xAI has definitely grabbed attention from all over the world for its Grok. The company has been consistent in introducing new models and features to offer enhanced experiences to the users. Given all this, Elon Musk is still skeptical about his AI company. Speaking in a companywide meeting at xAI's headquarters in San Francisco last week, Musk said that xAI could emerge as one of the strongest AI companies in the world if it manages to survive the next two to three years. However, sources familiar with the matter said he was positive about the direction and spoke about rapid growth, strong funding support, and long-term ambitions that go far beyond today's technology. During the meeting, Musk told staff that xAI's biggest strength lies in its ability to quickly expand computing power and data capacity. He further added that this growth is critical in the global race to build artificial intelligence that can match or exceed human intelligence. Musk believes that if xAI can keep scaling at its current pace, it will be able to beat larger and more established rivals in the coming years. Also read: Google Gemini can now read your screen to give smarter, context-aware answers: But there's a catch According to the people who know the particulars of the meeting, Musk also outlined a concrete timeline for his vision, and it wasn't a distant one. He clearly mentioned that xAI could reach the top of the AI race as early as 2026. The claim is backed by one of his earlier statements, where he stated that there was a 10% chance that the company's upcoming Grok 5 model could reach this level when it is released early next year. Also read: Adobe sued over alleged use of creators' work to train AI models Another major point of discussion in the meeting was the funding for the company. Musk told employees that xAI could have access to around 20 to 30 billion dollars in funding every year. He said the company also benefits from being close to his other businesses. Tesla has already integrated Grok into its vehicles, which gives xAI a direct path to real-world use and feedback. Employees who were a part of the meeting said Musk appeared happy with the company's progress. One person even went ahead and described the meeting as 'peppy'. Aside from the above-mentioned, Musk also spoke about his long-term ideas, which include building data centres in space and supporting future Mars missions. He suggested that Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, could one day help operate such facilities. Also read: Amazon reorganises AI division as AGI head Rohit Prasad set to leave Over the past year xAI has also rapidly expanded its data centre project, which is also known as Colossus. Furthermore, earlier this year the company also acknowledged that it had around 200,000 GPUs and plans to further grow this number to 1 million. Despite such bold ambitions, let's not forget that xAI is still a young company competing against major players like OpenAI and Google.