The Oman Investment Authority (OIA) has announced a strategic investment in xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk.
This acquisition underscores OIA’s continued efforts to diversify its global portfolio and strengthen its position in cutting-edge technologies.
Strengthening Oman’s technological footprint
OIA’s investment in xAI aligns with Oman’s Vision 2040, which aims to position the country at the forefront of global technological advancements.
Abdulsalam Mohammed Al Murshidi, Chairman of OIA, emphasized that the move supports Oman’s commitment to adopting world-class technologies and driving future progress. Through this investment, OIA aims to contribute to the global AI ecosystem and further diversify Oman’s economic interests, he said.
Beyond xAI, OIA holds shares in SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace company, which has seen a remarkable return on investment. OIA’s partnership with SpaceX and xAI reflects its commitment to investing in emerging technologies that drive innovation on a global scale.
With the investment in xAI, OIA is positioning Oman as a key player in the future of artificial intelligence and technological progress.
xAI’s recent milestones
Since its launch, xAI has achieved significant milestones, including the opening of a large data center in the U.S. and the introduction of the Grok-2 platform.
The enhanced Grok-2 offers advanced capabilities in chat, coding, and reasoning, with the added feature of generating images on the X social network. These developments are expected to solidify xAI’s position in the competitive AI landscape.
Elon Musk highlighted the importance of the partnership, stating, “The collaboration between Oman and the Gulf countries with xAI is an excellent idea. These investments will bear fruit as we work together to build a superintelligent AI capable of solving numerous problems.”
xAI’s growth and future prospects
In addition to its technological advancements, xAI recently raised $6 billion in funding, boosting its valuation to between $35 billion and $40 billion. The funding saw participation from key investors including A16Z, BlackRock, Fidelity, Lightspeed, MGX, Morgan Stanley, Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Oman Investment Authority (OIA). Strategic investors such as NVIDIA and AMD, along with Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital, also joined the round.
The capital will support infrastructure expansion and AI research, including the development of its Colossus supercomputer. The supercomputer is set to scale from 100,000 Nvidia GPUs to one million, playing a crucial role in the training of xAI’s powerful Grok models.
Musk also pointed out the critical need for computational power, stating, “A lot of compute is needed” to fuel xAI’s growth.