"The two companies announced the deal on Monday in a statement on SpaceX's website, saying the merger would form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world's foremost real-time information and free speech platform. SpaceX, one of the world's most valuable private companies, will gain xAI properties such as its Grok chatbot and the social media platform X."
"The acquisition comes as Musk has pursued plans to put datacenters and solar-powered satellites in space as a means of powering artificial intelligence, an immense and exorbitantly expensive undertaking. The announcement of the deal specifically cited Musk's plans for space-based datacenters as a rationale for the deal. Current advances in AI are dependent on large terrestrial datacenters, which require immense amounts of power and cooling."
"In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale. Musk has been increasingly intertwining parts of his businesses in recent months through deals and acquisitions. xAI acquired the platform X in an all-stock transaction in early 2025, and last month Tesla revealed that it planned to invest $2bn in xAI. Both SpaceX and xAI have received staggering valuations in the past year."
SpaceX has acquired xAI in a merger that consolidates AI and space assets as SpaceX prepares to go public later this year at a valuation likely to exceed $1tn. The deal transfers xAI properties including the Grok chatbot and the social media platform X to SpaceX. The merger was presented as creating a vertically integrated innovation engine combining AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile communications and a real-time information and free-speech platform. The acquisition was justified by plans to deploy datacenters and solar-powered satellites in space to meet AI power and cooling demands. Tesla investment plans and prior valuations reflect financial interconnections among Musk's firms.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]