What do space, autonomous cars, and social media have in common? While that sounds like a setup to a subpar Elon Musk joke, it’s what you’ll likely be wondering when you learn that the billionaire is reportedly considering merging SpaceX with one of his other companies.
Musk could combine SpaceX with xAI, Reuters reported, while Bloomberg reported that he may instead merge the aerospace company with Tesla. The news comes as SpaceX moves toward raising a record $50 billion in an IPO as early as June, which could beat AI rivals OpenAI and Anthropic to market.
Space + cars + tweets = ???
We’re not getting flying cars or astronauts asking Grok if something is true, so what are the actual benefits of these potential mergers?
SpaceX + xAI: Musk believes future AI training will take place in space. He also envisions solar-powered AI satellites and launching data centers into orbit.SpaceX + Tesla: Musk wants to send Tesla’s Optimus robots to the moon or Mars, while Tesla’s energy storage systems could also help run the proposed orbital data centers. Tesla and SpaceX are also working separately to build “a hundred gigawatts a year” of solar power.
Thirty seconds to Mars: He’s further away from his goal of terraforming the red planet than that, but combining two or even all three of his companies could be another step toward colonizing Mars.—DL