The Oman Investment Fund (OIA) announced Wednesday its investment in xAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) company backed by Elon Musk, aligning with the sovereign wealth fund’s strategy to diversify its global portfolio and foster growth across multiple sectors.
Focus on advanced technologies
However, the sovereign fund did not disclose any details, including the size of the investment in the AI company.
The move reflects the fund’s focus on advanced technologies as part of its broader commitment to invest in high-potential sectors, the state-run Oman News Agency (ONA) said Wednesday.
xAI, co-founded by Musk, has already achieved two significant milestones: the establishment of a major data center in the US and the rollout of its enhanced platform, Grok-2, according to the OIA.
Earlier this month, xAI raised $6 billion in its latest funding round through a stake sale. According to a company filing, as many as 97 investors took part in xAI’s fundraising activity. The latest round raised its total funding to $12 billion, which includes $6 billion in a round in May 2024.
The investment of the sovereign fund in xAI supports its goals under Oman Vision 2040, which enables the Sultanate to adopt world-class technologies and drive future progress, said OIA Chairman Abdulsalam Mohammed Al Murshidi.
xAI aims to be a pioneer in AI systems, offering the ability to process and analyze real-time data, an essential advantage over many competing AI systems.
Crucial quote
“The partnership 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,” said Musk.
“We are nearing the completion of training the Grok 3 model, which we believe will be the smartest AI model in the world,” he added.
OIA’s investment in SpaceX
Apart from xAI, the OIA is also a stakeholder in SpaceX, Musk’s private space company known for its Starlink satellite communication system. According to the report, this partnership has been highly successful, with OIA achieving an internal rate of return exceeding 37% on its SpaceX investment.
The strong returns are attributed to SpaceX’s rapid global expansion and the deployment of its satellite communication services in numerous countries worldwide.
Big number
The OIA has $49.9 billion in assets under management (AUM), according to the latest data by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI).
Net worth
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and co-founder of xAI, has a real-time net worth of $464 billion as of December 18, 2024, making him the richest person in the world, according to Forbes estimates.
