Humain, Saudi Arabia’s state-backed artificial intelligence entity, said on Wednesday it invested $3 billion in xAI as part of the company’s Series E funding round, a transaction that took place shortly before xAI was acquired by SpaceX.
According to Humain, the $3 billion commitment made the firm a "significant" minority shareholder in xAI. Following the acquisition, Humain’s holdings in xAI were converted into shares of SpaceX, the company controlled by Elon Musk.
The investment is presented by Humain as part of Riyadh’s broader push to expand its footprint in artificial intelligence. Officials framed the capital deployment as a way to tap into rising demand for compute capacity and to broaden national revenue sources beyond oil.
This transaction builds on a cooperative agreement disclosed in November at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum. At that event, Humain and xAI announced plans to jointly develop 500 megawatts of AI data center infrastructure, a commitment the Saudi firm referenced in its statement on the latest investment.
xAI itself said in January that it had raised $20 billion in an upsized Series E round as it accelerates deployment of new models and supporting infrastructure. The company framed the fundraise as part of efforts to position itself ahead of competitors OpenAI and Anthropic.
A month after announcing the expanded Series E, xAI was acquired by SpaceX. The acquisition was described as a consolidation that brings together Musk’s artificial intelligence venture and his space and rocket enterprise under a single corporate umbrella.
Summary of the transaction
- Humain invested $3 billion in xAI during its Series E funding round.
- Humain became a "significant" minority shareholder and then had its xAI holdings converted into SpaceX shares following SpaceX's acquisition of xAI.
- The investment connects to a prior partnership to develop 500 megawatts of AI data center capacity.
The announcement underscores two concurrent developments documented by the parties: a major capital injection into xAI’s Series E financing and a corporate consolidation with SpaceX that reshaped the ownership of xAI investors. Humain characterized its involvement as aligned with national objectives to foster AI capability and to leverage anticipated demand for compute resources.