xAI Oversubscribes Series E: Closes $20 Billion Mega-Round, Fueling Colossus Expansion and Grok 5 Acceleration
On January 6, 2026, xAI announced the successful close of its upsized Series E funding round, raising a staggering $20 billion — far exceeding the initial $15 billion target. Backed by heavyweights including NVIDIA, Cisco Investments, Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, and the Qatar Investment Authority, this capital injection propels xAI's valuation to approximately $230 billion. The funds will supercharge the world's largest GPU clusters (Colossus I & II now exceeding 1 million H100 equivalents) and fast-track Grok 5 development, as investor frenzy in frontier AI reaches fever pitch.
ByteDance's $23 Billion AI War Chest for 2026: Half Earmarked for Chips to Supercharge Large Models and Short-Video AI Ecosystem
ByteDance has drawn up preliminary plans for a staggering RMB 160 billion ($23 billion) capital expenditure in 2026, up from ~RMB 150 billion this year, with roughly half (RMB 85 billion) dedicated to procuring advanced AI processors. Revealed via sources to the Financial Times on December 22, 2025, this aggressive push aims to fuel Doubao large models, enhance TikTok/Douyin short-video AI features like generation and recommendation, and close the gap with U.S. giants — amid easing Nvidia H200 access and overseas data center leasing.
