SpaceX and xAI have merged in a deal that could enable Elon Musk to pursue plans for a constellation of up to one million satellites intended to power AI data centres in orbit.
The acquisition of xAI was announced in a statement on SpaceX’s website, bringing together Musk’s rocket-and-satellite company with his AI firm.
According to Bloomberg, the deal reportedly values the combined companies at $1.25tn, with SpaceX at $1tn and xAI at $250bn. This move would create the world’s most valuable private company.
Musk founded xAI in 2023 to compete with rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in a bid to provide “maximum truth-seeking AI”. Last year, xAI acquired one of Musk’s other ventures X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
In 2002 Musk founded private aerospace company SpaceX, which has launched thousands of satellites and conducted hundreds of orbital missions using its own rockets and boosters. Musk has been vocal about the company’s goal of establishing...