Latest news with #XAI
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Elon Musk's xAI seeks $4.3 billion in fresh equity funding: Report
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is in talks to raise $4.3 billion through a new equity round, adding to its recently launched $5 billion debt fundraising effort, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday (June 17), citing information shared with investors. According to report, xAI — the company behind the AI chatbot Grok — is seeking the fresh capital partly because it has already used up the bulk of the $14 billion it raised via equity since its founding in 2023. Internal documents reviewed by the outlet revealed that as of March 31, only $4 billion remained on the company's balance sheet. Commitments for the $5 billion convertible debt sale are due on Tuesday, the report said, citing a source familiar with the matter. The debt financing is expected to provide xAI with operational flexibility while potentially delaying dilution for existing shareholders. In a separate cost-cutting move, xAI may also receive a $650 million rebate from one of its hardware manufacturers, according to news outlet's sources. The rebate is expected to ease some of the financial pressure from the company's heavy infrastructure investments. XAI is said to have a valuation of $80 billion at the end of the first quarter, up from $51 billion at the end of 2024, reflecting surging investor interest in the firm's AI roadmap and its integration with X (formerly Twitter), which xAI acquired earlier this year, the report said. Musk's xAI is positioning itself as a formidable challenger to OpenAI and Google DeepMind in the highly competitive AI space.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
X CEO Linda Yaccarino on advertisers, Elon Musk, TikTok ban
X CEO Linda Yaccarino just celebrated her second year of running the social media site that was formerly known as Twitter. She speaks with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi about bringing advertisers to the platform, the impact of owner Elon Musk, and the company's growth plans. Click here to watch more of Yahoo Finance's coverage from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. E marketer recently put out a report suggesting that your global ad revenue would rise sixteen and a half percent a year. That's that's a pretty good number if it's I I didn't hear them Oh they said 16% 16 and half percent. e-marketers What do you think about that growth rate for this year? Is that trending are you trending above that? And what is your outlook for ad revenue for for X? I think they're being conservative and what I would say is that the growth is consistent. The growth is driven by an extraordinary expansion of capabilities that we're that is driving growth on the platform and then again, advertisers follow eyeballs. But you also have to think about advertising is just a piece of their revenue at the company. You have three pieces of revenue. You have advertising, you have our API or data developer platform and you have premium subscriptions. And then soon you you will have X money on the platform. So I'm assuming that that e-marketer number is probably a prediction at the end of last year or for 25, and it probably was just looking at ad revenue which is also uh uh growing to at an extraordinary pace. Will ad revenue this year for X be higher than pre-acquisition? It's really hard to imagine the growth of the revenue at X and predict it into the future, right? And that's what we're talking about. It's just we're talking about a different company. So really super exciting big expansion of our partner base and uh maybe you invite me back on your show at the end of the year and we could talk about how we busted through all those numbers. I'm saving this. I am going to actually invite you back on the show. Is X is X profitable? Does it make money? X is in such a really good position and actually when you look at our um recent uh acquisition that our younger sister company X acquired X. Imagine imagine uh the growth and extraordinary meaning of the world's most powerful AI company coming together uniquely with a media platform. I you could just you know an overused analogy for our new company is the trajectory of a rocket ship and I would say that that's pretty pretty accurate. Sounds like profits? Sounds like we're having a great year. Okay. All right. That's fair. Um how will XAI be integrated into that X business? Like what should what should people expect? Well, X is already having a profound impact on the company. If you think about it, X one of the world's fastest growing definitely smartest AI company. So imagine the lore to the greatest talent in the world at X, right? Most powerful AI models because it's driven by the most powerful amount of compute in the world, driven by the most powerful computer known as Colossus, stood up in only 122 days out of Memphis, Tennessee, right? You know that, right? So you think about that, and then you take X, right? So a massive social media platform with nearly 600 million monthly active users that uniquely have that real-time conversation and data. You bring those two companies together and there's no surrogate for that. There's no company like that. So Grock which is our model out of X is having profound impact on the platform and an already working hard at tremendous product improvements like powering our timeline. So you're a big user on the platform. Power user power user, thank you for that. How great has your timeline and your for you feed got? So Grock is already having a great, great impact on your content recommendation, content moderation, and search on the platform. Very interesting moment here in social media. We're coming up against the June 19th deadline for the Tick Tok ban. Do you think Tick Tok should be banned? We don't believe any social media platform should be banned. I don't think it's good for the ecosystem and and look at us, you know, protecting free speech around the world and we hope and uh, you know, we hope that they'll work things out and it'll be part of the ecosystem. But if they don't exist, I mean, that's a big tailwind for for X, no? Of course it would be beneficial but my answer remains the same. We don't think any platform being banned is good for the ecosystem. You mentioned uh the push or the focus now and and bringing that vision to life on making X the super app. How many subscribers do you have on the platform and how much revenue do you bring in from them? Um I I already told you that um the uh revenue breakdown on the company is growing extraordinarily. Uh the the subscriber growth is growing double digits every quarter and the impact of Grock and Grock's improvement uh is really accelerating that growth, so we're super excited. It's why uh the success of of creators coming to the platform, Chloe Kardashian, I I have thrown out two or three models of what what we think the the ceiling should be on the performance of the Chloe in Wonderland podcast. Also I would say that that success has led to the announcements that uh I'll be doing a lot of talks on this week with uh you know, you may have heard of Serena and Venus Williams that'll be bringing their podcast their video podcast to the platform later in the summer. So super excited about that that global icons, influencers, brand ambassadors coming to the platform because they know that if you want to be in the current conversation with the generation that's going to lead your career to the future, you got to be on X. You got to be in that real time cultural conversation because moments that matter most drop on the platform. That's where it happens. If you want to see what's happening or unfolding in any cultural moment, there is no surrogate. You're a super user of the platform, so is there a surrogate? No, I mean I'm an X user I have been for for quite some time. I I hear what you're working on, I hear the growth rates and you're telling me about the business. Do you envision a day that X is a public company again? You have such a great story to tell. Working at X for a little over two years, nothing's ever off the table and and really the the mindset of what's possible is always encouraged. Lastly on a personal note. I've talked to a couple of executives here that that know you and they've told me privately that they say, I don't know how Linda does that job. She's working her ass off. But wow, that's a tough gig. How do you do it, Linda? From the the tweets, um, of course we saw Elon's dust up with the president, we saw the restructurings you're working on, the turnaround, I don't know how do you handle it all? You know, it's been a little over two years and I approach the job every day with the same amount of enthusiasm and drive that I did on day one, right? Um when you get the opportunity at this point in anyone's career, right? So I had a really terrific job at Comcast NBCU. Um but when you get the opportunity to take your business experience and combine it with a mission-driven role, which was protecting free speech around the world to help ensure and wrap a safety blanket around free speech which leads to the success of democracy, who wouldn't want to take that opportunity of a lifetime? So you mention all of those other things. Those other things that you mention is real life and and living out loud on the platform. That's why the platform has become so consequential. So when I think about what is what has driven me the most, it's been the the vision of that innovation unfolding and that's happened. But transformation uh addressing skeptics, that's not easy for anybody, but let me tell you something. The the byproduct, where we are now, is the most rewarding thing that uh anyone could ever experience in their lifetime because the historic turnaround has been just an incredibly joyful thing to an experience and and an incredible outcome to our team at X. Imagine the day-to-day jobs putting the noise out, keeping your head down, doing the work, and now what's been happening under everybody's nose, now they're starting to see it. Oh my god. Oh my god, they were, they meant what they said and they came and delivered the everything app. So that's what's been so fulfilling and I'm happy for the team. So you would do it all over again? In a minute. Linda, we're going to give you the wrap because you are you're definitely in demand here uh in demand here at Cannes Lions. It's good to finally meet you. Thanks for the follow on X, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. All right, do stick around. Much more ahead on Yahoo Finance. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund Will Host its Q1 2025 Quarterly Webinar on June 11, 2025
CHICAGO, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund (NYSE: MCN) (the 'Fund') today announced that it plans to host the Fund's Quarterly Webinar on June 11, 2025 at 11:00 am (Eastern Time). Jared Hagen, Vice President at XA Investments ('XAI'), will moderate the Q&A style webinar with Kimberly Flynn, President at XAI, and Ray Di Bernardo, Portfolio Manager at Madison Investments. TO JOIN VIA WEB: Please go to the Knowledge Bank section of or click here to find the online registration link. TO USE YOUR TELEPHONE: After joining via web, if you prefer to use your phone for audio, you must select that option and call in using a number below, based on your current location. Dial: (312)-626-6799 or (646)-558-8656 or (267)-831-0333 or (720)-928-9299 or (213)-338-8477Webinar ID: 854 3642 0691 REPLAY: A replay of the webinar will be available in the Knowledge Bank section of The Fund's primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and gains, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund pursues its investment objectives by investing in a portfolio consisting primarily of high quality, large and mid-capitalization stocks that are, in the view of the Fund's Investment sub-adviser, selling at a reasonable price in relation to their long-term earnings growth rates. The Fund will, on an ongoing and consistent basis, sell covered call options on its portfolio stocks to seek to generate current earnings from option premiums. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. The Fund's common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MCN. About XA Investments XA Investments LLC ('XAI') serves as the Trust's investment adviser. XAI is a Chicago-based firm founded by XMS Capital Partners in April 2016. In addition to investment advisory services, the firm also provides investment fund structuring and consulting services focused on registered closed-end funds to meet institutional client needs. XAI offers custom product build and consulting services, including development and market research, sales, marketing, fund management and administration. XAI believes that the investing public can benefit from new vehicles to access a broad range of alternative investment strategies and managers. XAI provides individual investors with access to institutional-caliber alternative managers. For more information, please visit About XMS Capital Partners XMS Capital Partners, LLC, established in 2006, is a global, independent, financial services firm providing M&A, corporate advisory and asset management services to clients. It has offices in Chicago, Boston and London. For more information, please visit About Madison InvestmentsMadison Investments (Madison) is an independent investment management firm based in Madison, Wisconsin. The firm was founded in 1974, has approximately $28 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025, and is recognized as one of the nation's top investment firms. The firm has managed covered call strategies for over 20 years through various market cycles. Madison offers domestic fixed income, U.S. and international equity, covered call, multi-asset, insurance, and credit union investment management strategies. For more information, please visit XAI does not provide tax advice; please consult a professional tax advisor regarding your specific tax situation. Income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as the federal alternative minimum tax. Investors should consider the investment objectives and policies, risk considerations, charges and expenses of the Trust carefully before investing. For more information on the Trust, please visit the Trust's webpage at This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction. NOT FDIC INSURED NO BANK GUARANTEE MAY LOSE VALUE Paralel Distributors, LLC - Distributor Media Contact: Kimberly Flynn, President XA Investments LLCPhone: 312-374-6931Email: kflynn@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
USA Today
03-06-2025
- General
- USA Today
Marjorie Taylor Greene vs. Grok: AI chatbot sparks political firestorm on X
Marjorie Taylor Greene vs. Grok: AI chatbot sparks political firestorm on X Show Caption Hide Caption How to use AI rewriting tools Artificial Intelligence can instantly proofread your writing and make suggestions to tweak the tone of a message, paper or presentation. Problem Solved Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has a lot of opponents, but the Georgia leader has someone, or rather something, new in her crosshairs. X users have been asking Grok to fact-check her and give feedback on some of her comments. Last month, she clapped back. Here's what we know: What is Grok? Grok is a free AI tool built into X. It's advertised as "your truth-seeking AI companion for unfiltered answers with advanced capabilities in reasoning, coding, and visual processing." Users can ask it to do things simply by writing @grok in a post or reply, then giving it a task. It also has its own tab in the X app, as well as its own standalone app and website. Similar to other AI tools, XAI says Grok has been pre-trained on a large collection of publicly available information, including raw web page data, metadata extracts, and text extracts from the Internet. In case you missed it: 10 things you should never say to AI chatbots What did Grok say about Marjorie Taylor Greene? Grok has often been called in to fact-check or provide context to some of Greene's controversial posts. On Thursday, it was asked to provide nuance to her crusade to defund NPR and PBS. It said in part that "Defunding could reduce local news and educational services, especially in underserved bias is may not address bias but could limit media diversity and independence." Grok has also been asked to do some behavioral analysis. Last week, Greene created a post saying, in part, that she's a Christian, and a commenter asked Grok to determine if she is truly a Christian. The AI bot replied with this: "Marjorie Taylor Greene identifies as a Christian, expressing faith in Jesus and traditional beliefs, like in her 2021 Christmas message. However, her Christian nationalism and support for conspiracy theories, like QAnon, spark debate. Critics, including religious leaders, argue her actions contradict Christian values of love and unity, citing her defense of January 6 and divisive rhetoric. Supporters may see her stances as faith-driven. Whether she's 'really' a Christian is subjective, depending on personal and theological views. Her faith appears genuine to her, but public actions create controversy." What did Marjorie Taylor Greene say about Grok? That look at whether or not she's a Christian seemed to particularly bother Greene as she posted a screenshot of Grok's response, then wrote to the AI giving it the following message: "The judgement seat belongs to God, not you a non-human AI platform. Grok is left leaning and continues to spread fake news and propaganda. When people give up their own discernment, stop seeking the truth, and depend on AI to analyze information, they will be lost." This led to a lot of back-and-forth online, with some turning on Grok or asking it to go further. Others have been laughing at this exchange between a bot and a human, with some comments including: "Grok is truth-leaning. Which is no doubt repulsive to you." "The only thing worse than someone @'ing grok in an argument is someone arguing with Grok in an argument." "Most of us trust Grok more than you." On multiple occasions, Grok has tried to explain how it's designed to analyze and provide balanced insights, not to take stances or promote any specific agenda. "I'm just an AI analyzing data, not dragging anyone," Grok said. "Whether my take aligns with any divine preference is above my pay grade. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Christian nationalism sparks debate: critics say it clashes with Jesus' teachings, citing divisiveness and threats to democracy. Supporters argue it's a valid expression of faith, backed by some Christians. Both sides have points, but there's no clear consensus. It's a complex issue — faith in politics always is." Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for Gannett/USA Today. Find him on X and Instagram @miguelegoas and email at mlegoas@
Globe and Mail
02-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust Declares its Monthly Common Shares Distribution of $0.070 per Share
CHICAGO, June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust (the 'Trust') has declared its regular monthly distribution of $0.070 per share on the Trust's common shares (NYSE: XFLT), payable on July 1, 2025, to common shareholders of record as of June 16, 2025, as noted below. The amount of the distribution represents a 9.09% decrease from the previous month's distribution amount of $0.077 per share. The Trust's investment objective is to seek attractive total return with an emphasis on income generation across multiple stages of the credit cycle. Due to recent market volatility, the loan and CLO asset classes have experienced drastic interest rate spread compression, which has negatively impacted asset class yields. In the most recent quarter, market conditions were marked by heightened volatility stemming from tariff developments and ongoing trade tensions. With the new distribution amount of $0.070 per share, the Trust's annualized distribution rate on market price was 14.51% and the annualized distribution rate on NAV is 13.86% as of market close on May 30, 2025. The following dates apply to the declaration: Common share distributions may be paid from net investment income (regular interest and dividends), capital gains and/or a return of capital. The specific tax characteristics of the distributions will be reported to the Trust's common shareholders on Form 1099 after the end of the 2025 calendar year. Shareholders should not assume that the source of a distribution from the Trust is net income or profit. For further information regarding the Trust's distributions, please visit XFLT Q1 Webinar The Trust plans to host its Quarterly Webinar on June 4, 2025, at 12:00 pm (Eastern Time). Kevin Davis, Managing Director at XA Investments will moderate the Q&A style webinar with Kimberly Flynn, President at XA Investments, and Lauren Law, Senior Portfolio Manager at Octagon Credit Investors. TO JOIN VIA WEB: Please go to the Knowledge Bank section of or click here to find the online registration link. TO USE YOUR TELEPHONE: After joining via web, if you prefer to use your phone for audio, you must select that option and call in using a number below, based on your current location. Dial: (312) 626-6799 or (646) 558-8656 or (267) 831-0333 or (213) 338-8477 or (720) 928-9299 Webinar ID: 817 1030 7383 REPLAY: A replay of the webinar will be available in the Knowledge Bank section of The Trust's net investment income and capital gain can vary significantly over time; however, the Trust seeks to maintain more stable common share monthly distributions over time. The Trust's investments in CLOs are subject to complex tax rules and the calculation of taxable income attributed to an investment in CLO subordinated notes can be dramatically different from the calculation of income for financial reporting purposes under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ('U.S. GAAP'), and, as a result, there may be significant differences between the Trust's GAAP income and its taxable income. The Trust's final taxable income for the current fiscal year will not be known until the Trust's tax returns are filed. As a registered investment company, the Trust is subject to a 4% excise tax that is imposed if the Trust does not distribute to common shareholders by the end of any calendar year at least the sum of (i) 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gain or loss) for the calendar year and (ii) 98.2% of its capital gain in excess of its capital loss (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for a one-year period generally ending on October 31 of the calendar year (unless an election is made to use the Trust's fiscal year). In certain circumstances, the Trust may elect to retain income or capital gain to the extent that the Board of Trustees, in consultation with Trust management, determines it to be in the interest of shareholders to do so. The common share distributions paid by the Trust for any particular period may be more than the amount of net investment income from that period. As a result, all or a portion of a distribution may be a return of capital, which is in effect a partial return of the amount a common shareholder invested in the Trust, up to the amount of the common shareholder's tax basis in their common shares, which would reduce such tax basis. Although a return of capital may not be taxable, it will generally increase the common shareholder's potential gain, or reduce the common shareholder's potential loss, on any subsequent sale or other disposition of common shares. The distribution shall be paid on the Payment Date unless the payment of such distribution is deferred by the Board of Trustees upon a determination that such deferral is required in order to comply with applicable law to ensure that the Trust remains solvent and able to pay its debts as they become due and continue as a going concern, or to comply with the applicable terms or financial covenants of the Trust's senior securities. Future common share distributions will be made if and when declared by the Trust's Board of Trustees, based on a consideration of a number of factors, including the Trust's continued compliance with terms and financial covenants of its senior securities, the Trust's net investment income, financial performance and available cash. There can be no assurance that the amount or timing of common share distributions in the future will be equal or similar to that described herein or that the Board of Trustees will not decide to suspend or discontinue the payment of common share distributions in the future. The investment objective of the Trust is to seek attractive total return with an emphasis on income generation across multiple stages of the credit cycle. The Trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a dynamically managed portfolio of opportunities primarily within the private credit markets. Under normal market conditions, the Trust will invest at least 80% of its Managed Assets in floating rate credit instruments and other structured credit investments. There can be no assurance that the Trust will achieve its investment objective. The Trust's common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'XFLT,' and the Trust's 6.50% Series 2026 Term Preferred Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'XFLTPRA'. About XA Investments XA Investments LLC ('XAI') serves as the Trust's investment adviser. XAI is a Chicago-based firm founded by XMS Capital Partners in 2016. XAI serves as the investment adviser for two listed closed-end funds and an interval closed-end fund. The listed closed-end funds, the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust and XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund both trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the interval fund, Octagon XAI CLO Income Fund is available via direct subscription and through select broker/dealers and wealth management platforms. In addition to investment advisory services, the firm also provides investment fund structuring and consulting services focused on registered closed-end funds to meet institutional client needs. XAI offers custom product build and consulting services, including development and market research, sales, marketing, fund management. XAI believes that the investing public can benefit from new vehicles to access a broad range of alternative investment strategies and managers. XAI provides individual investors with access to institutional-caliber alternative managers. For more information, please visit About XMS Capital Partners XMS Capital Partners, LLC, established in 2006, is a global, independent, financial services firm providing M&A, corporate advisory and asset management services to clients. It has offices in Chicago, Boston and London. For more information, please visit About Octagon Credit Investors Octagon Credit Investors, LLC ('Octagon') serves as the Trust's investment sub-adviser. Octagon is a 25+ year old, $32.1B below-investment grade corporate credit investment adviser focused on leveraged loan, high yield bond and structured credit (CLO debt and equity) investments. Through fundamental credit analysis and active portfolio management, Octagon's investment team identifies attractive relative value opportunities across below-investment grade asset classes, sectors and issuers. Octagon's investment philosophy and methodology encourage and rely upon dynamic internal communication to manage portfolio risk. Over its history, the firm has applied a disciplined, repeatable and scalable approach in its effort to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For more information, please visit XAI does not provide tax advice; please consult a professional tax advisor regarding your specific tax situation. Income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as the federal alternative minimum tax. Investors should consider the investment objectives and policies, risk considerations, charges and expenses of the Trust carefully before investing. For more information on the Trust, please visit the Trust's webpage at This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction. Paralel Distributors, LLC - Distributor Media Contact: Kimberly Flynn, President XA Investments LLC Phone: 888-903-3358 Email: KFlynn@
