How to Invest in xAI Stock in 2026

xAI is Elon Musk's newest company — and maybe his most ambitious. This artificial intelligence startup was built to compete directly with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind.

Founded in 2023, xAI's goal is to build “maximally curious” AI systems capable of understanding the true nature of the universe.

Put simply, the company wants to create models that can reason more deeply and think more independently than today's leading systems like ChatGPT or Claude.

Its first product, Grok, is an AI chatbot designed to bring that vision to life. It's available as a standalone app and is also integrated with X (Twitter) and Tesla vehicles.

Unsurprisingly, investors have rushed to back Musk's latest venture, hoping he can pull off in AI what he's already done with Tesla and SpaceX.

In January 2026, xAI raised $20 billion in January 2026 at a $230 billion valuation, pushing its total capital raised to $62 billion across equity and debt — a staggering sum for a company founded less than three years ago.

Here's how you can invest in it, too.

How to buy xAI stock

xAI is a private company, which means it doesn't have a stock symbol or trade on a public exchange.

However, accredited investors can buy shares on Hiive, a pre-IPO marketplace.

Accreditation requirements

To qualify as an accredited investor, you must meet one of the following criteria:

• Have an annual income of $200,000 individually or $300,000 jointly.
• Have a net worth that exceeds $1,000,000, excluding your main residence.
• Be a qualifying financial professional.

Hiive is an investment platform where accredited investors can buy shares of private, VC-backed startups.

Some of the most active companies on Hiive right now are SpaceX, OpenAI, and xAI:

Each listing of xAI stock is created by a unique seller who may be an employee, venture capitalist, or angel investor. Sellers set their own asking prices and quantity of shares for sale.

Buyers can see each listing, accept a seller's asking price as listed, place bids and negotiate with sellers, or add a company to their watchlist. They can also see all recent transactions (prices and quantity of shares traded).

See what shares of xAI are trading for on the pre-IPO market by creating an account:

Register for Hiive

Can retail investors buy xAI stock?

Because of federal regulations, retail (non-accredited) investors are not able to invest in private companies.

While there's no way for you to buy shares of xAI directly, you can get exposure to the company via the ARK Venture Fund. As of January, xAI makes up 7.25% of the fund, its 2nd largest holding:

The Venture Fund also has stakes in SpaceX, Figure AI, OpenAI, Neuralink, and Anthropic, and is one of the best ways for individual investors to gain exposure to these companies.

Retail investors can invest in the Fund via SoFi. Accredited investors can buy it directly from ARK's website. There is a 2.90% annual management fee.

Alternatives to investing in xAI

Here's a list of other AI-related investment opportunities you may be interested in.

1. Publicly traded AI companies

For retail investors, the easiest way to invest in AI is to buy publicly traded stock.

• Nvidia (NVDA) is the market leader in developing the chips used to train and run supercomputers and AI networks. It has also participated in xAI's last two rounds, with much of the capital raised in these rounds expected to go toward acquiring Nvidia chips.
• Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) is the sole manufacturer of Nvidia's AI GPUs. The company does not design any of its own chips; it only builds chips for its clients.
• Microsoft (MSFT) owns 27% of OpenAI and is entitled to up to 20% of its revenue (up to an undisclosed cap). It's also integrating the lab's technology into its existing suite of products, including Office 365 and GitHub. You can read more about their partnership in this article.
• Alphabet (GOOGL) is positioned to be the biggest winner from AI-powered search. Additionally, its chatbot (Gemini) is a competitor to OpenAI, and its Google Cloud Platform is likely to host a number of future AI applications.
• Amazon (AMZN) runs Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's largest cloud computing provider. A significant amount of future AI computing will likely be run on its servers. It also owns ~15% of Anthropic.

Dell (DELL) was also contracted to build half of the racks needed to power xAI's original supercomputer, and Cisco (CSCO) — in addition to being an investor in xAI — has partnered with Nvidia to help it deploy AI factories.

While none of these companies are working on the exact same problems as xAI, they either benefit from or are themselves investing heavily in artificial intelligence.

2. ETFs and private funds

If you don't want to invest in a specific stock but want exposure to the industry, here are a few options:

• The Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT) invests in companies focused on generative AI.
• The Themes Generative Artificial Intelligence ETF (WISE) owns stocks that generate their revenue from AI, big analytics and data, natural language processing, or AI-driven services.

There are also funds that allow you to invest in privately held companies:

• The ARK Venture Fund (mentioned above) invests in innovative companies, regardless of whether they're publicly traded or privately held.
• The Fundrise Innovation Fund gives retail investors access to a portfolio of privately held tech companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Anyscale, Anduril, Databricks, and more. The minimum investment is just $10.

3. Other private AI companies

Here are a few other AI-centric private companies I've written about:

• OpenAI
• Anthropic
• Scale AI

All of these companies have shares available for purchase on Hiive.

For more investment ideas, check out our article on how to invest in artificial intelligence.

When will xAI IPO?

Musk hasn't shared any plans for taking xAI public, and for now, his long-term intentions remain unclear.

Historically, he's preferred to keep his companies private. Of the businesses he leads — xAI, Tesla, SpaceX, X (Twitter), Neuralink, and The Boring Company — only Tesla is publicly traded.

By keeping his companies private, he can run them with complete control. There's no quarterly earnings pressure, no shareholder votes, and no boards of directors, giving him the freedom to pursue ambitious, long-term goals on his own terms.

That said, he recently signaled openness to the public markets when he confirmed SpaceX is preparing for an IPO in 2026. Plus, xAI's closest rival, OpenAI, is also exploring one.

Clearly, Musk has had no issue raising funds for xAI privately, but if that changes in the future or if strategic pressure mounts, an IPO could definitely be on the table.

xAI and X (Twitter)

The stated mission of xAI is “to understand the true nature of the universe” and to seek truth, helping to filter out and prevent the spread of misinformation.

One obvious use case for this technology is X (formerly Twitter), Musk's social media company. Grok, xAI's chatbot, is heavily integrated with X.

In March 2025, in a move to further link the two companies, Musk announced that xAI acquired X in an all-stock deal, which valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45 billion less $12 billion in debt).

Musk originally purchased X for $44 billion in October 2022. Its valuation had swung wildly since the purchase, at one point being valued at less than $10 billion, though it had risen in the months following President Trump's election.

Musk described the two companies' futures as "intertwined" and said the acquisition will help them "combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”

More on Grok and xAI

As of September 2025, xAI reported that Grok had 64 million monthly active users.*

*In January 2026, xAI reported 600 million monthly active users, but that figured included both Grok and X (Twitter) apps.

For comparison, OpenAI said in October that ChatGPT had hit 800 million weekly users, while Google reported it had crossed 650 million monthly users for its Gemini app in November.

Despite having a fraction of the user base — Grok has less than 2% of ChatGPT's usage — xAI is valued at $230 billion, or 46% of OpenAI's latest valuation.

That premium reflects investor confidence in xAI's long-term potential, which is driven by several factors:

• Data centers: xAI has spent billions building its own compute infrastructure. Its flagship system, Colossus, is the largest AI-specific supercomputer on earth, powered by more than 200,000 GPUs. A follow-up system, Colossus 2, is currently under construction.
• Founder and strategic backing: Elon Musk's involvement continues to attract capital and media attention, helping xAI command a valuation that far exceeds what current usage or revenue would typically support.
• Integration: Grok is deeply integrated into X (Twitter) and Grok Voice is now available in Tesla vehicles, two powerful distribution channels that could unlock major monetization opportunities down the road.

That said, Grok hasn't escaped controversy. It's been criticized for producing politically charged, Musk-aligned responses, and is currently under regulatory scrutiny after its image generator was used to create sexualized images of other users.

Elon Musk and OpenAI

Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI and invested $50 million to start the lab.

In 2018, Musk sold his stake to Microsoft and left the company over disputes about the company's lack of safety guardrails. 

He also filed a lawsuit against Sam Altman (which has since been withdrawn), his co-founder and the current CEO of OpenAI, claiming Altman breached their contract by abandoning their not-for-profit mission.

In November 2024, Musk amended the lawsuit to expand antitrust allegations and added Microsoft, Microsoft VP Dee Templeton, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman as defendants.

xAI is a direct competitor of OpenAI. Musk has a golden opportunity to differentiate xAI with responsible and transparent practices, areas he's publicly criticized OpenAI for in the past.

How much is xAI worth?

xAI most recently raised $20 billion at a $230 billion valuation in January 2026, up from the $200 billion valuation it received just four months earlier. It's the 4th most valuable private company in the world.

The company's valuation has nearly tripled since March 2025 when it valued itself at $80 billion as part of its acquisition of X (Twitter).

Here's a look at how xAI's valuation has changed since being founded in 2023: