Saudi Arabia's Humain invests $3 billion in Elon Musk's xAI before SpaceX merger

Saudi's Humain invested $3 billion in xAI's Series E funding round

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Humain, the kingdom's artificial intelligence company, said on Wednesday it had invested $3 billion in Elon Musk's xAI as a part of its Series E funding round just prior to its acquisition by SpaceX. The investment made Humain a "significant" minority shareholder, with its xAI holdings converted into SpaceX shares, it said. Saudi Arabia is boosting its artificial intelligence ambitions as it seeks to capitalize on the growing demand for compute capacity and diversify revenue sources away from oil. The investment builds on the partnership announced between Humain and xAI in November at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum where both firms said they would jointly develop 500 megawatts of AI data center infrastructure. In January, xAI said it raised $20 billion in an upsized Series E funding round as the company ramps up deployment of new models and infrastructure to get ahead of competitors OpenAI and Anthropic. A month after the fundraise announcement, Musk's SpaceX acquired xAI in a massive consolidation move that combines the billionaire's artificial intelligence startup with his space and rocket firm. Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Elon Musk's xAI Gets $3 Billion Investment From Saudi-Backed A.I. Firm

Saudi Arabia's state-backed artificial intelligence company, Humain, said on Wednesday that it had invested $3 billion in Elon Musk's xAI, deepening the country's financial ties with the tech billionaire. Humain, the Riyadh-based A.I. company created last year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said it made the investment just before Mr. Musk announced that he had combined xAI with his rocket company, SpaceX, creating a business worth more than $1 trillion. Humain's investment made it "a significant minority shareholder in xAI, with its holdings subsequently converted into shares in SpaceX," the Saudi company said in a statement. The timing of the investment could produce a financial windfall for the Saudi firm. Mr. Musk is said to be planning an initial public offering of the combined company later this year. The deal gives Saudi Arabia a stake in a key American government contractor. SpaceX, the world's biggest rocket maker, plays an important role in U.S. national security systems, launching military and intelligence satellites. The company also operates Starlink, the biggest satellite internet provider, whose technology has been critical for Ukraine's military defenses. Mr. Musk has been forging closer ties to Saudi Arabia as he competes against companies like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic in the race to build A.I. applications and infrastructure. Last year, xAI announced plans to build a major A.I. data center with Humain in Saudi Arabia. Prince Mohammed is attempting to diversify the country's economy and turn its oil riches into tech power. Taking advantage of Saudi Arabia's considerable financial resources and cheap electricity, Humain and other local firms are developing data centers loaded with top-end semiconductors that it hopes global companies will use to build and deploy A.I. tools. Prince Mohammed created Humain last year to help the kingdom advance in A.I., making himself the company's chairman. Backed by the country's enormous sovereign wealth fund, Humain is building data centers, developing chatbots and investing in A.I. companies. Humain has also struck deals with the chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices and the networking firm Cisco Systems to develop data centers. The Saudi firm has backed the start-up Luma AI, which is building video-generation tools. Microsoft, Amazon and other global tech firms have also been expanding in Saudi Arabia as it seeks to become a global tech hub. Saudi Arabia's A.I. ambitions have been aided by the Trump administration. During Prince Mohammed's visit to Washington in November, the United States and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement that allows the kingdom to buy the U.S. semiconductors needed to power A.I. Saudi Arabia is in a regional competition with the United Arab Emirates that has extended to A.I. While Saudi Arabia has backed xAI, the Emirates has struck deals with OpenAI, including a massive data center complex under development in Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia's Humain invests $3 billion in Elon Musk's xAI By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Saudi Arabia-backed artificial intelligence company Humain has invested $3 billion in Elon Musk's AI startup xAI, according to a statement released Wednesday. The investment made Humain a "significant minority shareholder" in xAI just before the AI company was acquired by Musk's space exploration company SpaceX. As part of the transaction, Humain's holdings will convert into SpaceX shares. This investment strengthens ties between Musk and Humain, which was established last year with the goal of transforming Saudi Arabia into an AI powerhouse. The two companies are planning to jointly develop a 500 megawatt data center in Saudi Arabia. Humain CEO Tareq Amin said the investment demonstrates the company's "conviction in transformational AI" and its ability to deploy capital behind opportunities "where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge." The $3 billion was part of xAI's Series E financing round, occurring at what Humain described as a "highly compelling inflection point" before xAI's acquisition by SpaceX in early February. This deal builds upon a partnership announced in November 2025 at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, where both companies committed to developing next-generation AI infrastructure and deploying xAI's Grok models in Saudi Arabia. Humain, a PIF company, describes itself as delivering full-stack AI capabilities across data centers, infrastructure, advanced AI models, and AI solutions for both public and private sector organizations. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.