Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, is in talks to raise new financing that could value it at as much as $120 billion, up from $80 billion little more than a month ago, two people with knowledge of the discussions said.

The talks are in the early stages, and xAI’s valuation could rise or fall as the talks progress, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The talks follow a fundraising effort by OpenAI, the startup that makes ChatGPT, which said in March that it had closed a financing round that valued it at $300 billion. OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, setting off a funding surge for other AI companies, including xAI, which is intertwined with X, Musk’s social media company. — The New York Times