Musk and AI are burning through cash: a net loss of $1.46 billion in Q3 last year, all to "give souls" to robots.

Amid the AI ​​boom, many startups are investing heavily in data center construction, talent acquisition, and other areas.

Among these, xAI, Elon Musk's AI startup, may be burning through cash faster than one might imagine.

xAI reported a net loss of nearly $1.5 billion in one quarter.

According to US media citing internal documents, xAI reported a net loss of $1.46 billion in the third quarter of last year (ending September 30, 2025), compared to a net loss of $1 billion in the previous quarter.

The report states that xAI's revenue nearly doubled from the previous quarter to $107 million during this reporting period. The company invested a total of $7.8 billion in cash in the first nine months of last year.

Internal documents reveal that the company was burning through cash rapidly and incurring increasing losses as it needed to spend money building data centers, recruiting talent, and developing software that would eventually power humanoid robots.

The company's executives reportedly told investors that their goal is to build self-sustaining artificial intelligence and eventually power humanoid robots like Optimus.

However, when the media contacted xAI for comment on its information regarding the losses, its response was: "Traditional media are lying."

The core focus is on rapidly building AI agents.

According to industry insiders, xAI, like other rapidly growing AI startups, is quickly leveraging the funds raised in its recent funding round. The company mentioned this in a recent conference call with investors.

It was revealed that during an investor call, xAI's leadership (including Chief Revenue Officer Jon Shulkin) told investors that xAI's current core focus is on rapidly building AI agents and other software.

In fact, in the field of artificial intelligence, xAI's model of burning a lot of money is not uncommon : AI startups typically spend billions of dollars to purchase expensive, advanced data center equipment and attract top generative AI researchers.

However, xAI's losses may have exceeded initial expectations - according to previous reports from US media, the company had previously projected a full-year EBITDA loss of $2.2 billion.

Despite rapidly widening losses, xAI's fundraising efforts have not encountered any obstacles: just this week, xAI announced the completion of an expanded Series E funding round, raising a total of $20 billion, exceeding its $15 billion fundraising target.