Morgan Stanley Seeks xAI Debt Buyers After Trump Feud

Morgan Stanley is reaching out to a broader pool of investors to shore up demand for a $5 billion debt sale for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI Corp., a deal that offers a window into the fallout from the billionaire’s feud with US President Donald Trump.

When Morgan Stanley launched the debt offering early last week, it already had more than $3.5 billion in orders. Some investors took that as a sign that the deal would soon be oversubscribed, a goal that has been easily exceeded for other Musk-related offerings. As of Monday, though, demand had only risen to around $5 billion and the bank began reaching out to smaller lenders who had not been given access last week, according to people familiar with the deal.