This chart shows how crazy-fast the value of Elon Musk's xAI has grown in 16 months

• Elon Musk's AI startup xAI has been valued at a reported $50 billion 16 months after its founding.
• It hit the milestone more than 8 years faster than it took rival OpenAI to cross the threshold.
• Other companies near xAI's valuation include Shein, Revolut, and Stripe.

Elon Musk has a certified rocketship in his hands — and no, we're not talking about SpaceX.

One of his other companies, his artificial intelligence startup xAI, has catapulted from launch just 16 months ago into an AI company now worth a reported $50 billion.

The chart below helps put that meteoric rise into perspective.

How does that $50 billion valuation compare to the competition?

It took OpenAI, last valued at $157 billion in October, around 9 years to pass the $50 billion milestone, according to PitchBook.

Elon Musk, starting with a team of 12 people in July 2023, did it in less than a year and a half.

The $50 billion valuation furthers the distance between xAI and smaller rivals like Anthropic (valued at $19 billion) and Perplexity (valued at $2.8 billion), and has it approaching the market cap of companies like fast-fashion giant Shein, which was valued at $66 billion in May 2023.