In his official statement posted on the SpaceX website, Musk noted that the merger of the companies would create an "innovation machine" capable of simultaneously working on artificial intelligence, rocket technologies, internet services, and social media.
Although the details of the agreement are not disclosed, sources from the BBC familiar with the situation report that the value of xAI is $125 billion, while SpaceX is valued at $1 trillion, making the latter the most expensive private company in the world.
In January of this year, Tesla, another of Musk's companies, announced plans to invest $2 billion in xAI.
At a meeting with investors, Musk mentioned that xAI should become the "conductor of the orchestra" for Tesla factories, where autonomous robots will be used. He also reported plans to reduce production of the outdated Model S and X electric vehicles and to retrofit factories for the production of humanoid robots, Optimus.
According to recent data, SpaceX is considering going public (IPO). Pitchbook analyst Emily Zheng believes that the merger with xAI could be a preparation for this event.
“The merger of the companies before the IPO will allow SpaceX to demonstrate to investors its growth and differentiation potential,” she added.
In his merger statement, Musk expressed the opinion that space technologies could help solve the energy shortage problem for companies engaged in artificial intelligence.
“In the long term, space-based AI is undoubtedly the only way to scale,” he noted.
Additionally, Musk plans to focus on launching satellites to support artificial intelligence systems in the coming months.
“Creating space data centers will enable funding and developing self-sustaining bases on the Moon, a new civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion throughout the Universe,” he believes.
Musk hopes that space data centers will be able to utilize solar energy while ensuring low operating costs.
To implement this idea, he plans to launch 1 million satellites into orbit using Starship rockets, which, according to him, could be launched every hour and carry up to 200 tons of payload.
However, the Starship rockets are still undergoing testing, and regular commercial flights have not yet commenced.
xAI was founded as a division of the social network X (formerly Twitter) after its acquisition by Musk in 2022.
By spring 2025, xAI became an independent company, and its valuation exceeded that of X.
Later, the startup acquired the social network, with Musk stating that the merger would allow for the integration of "data, models, computations, distribution, and employees."
The main product of xAI is the chatbot Grok, which has recently faced criticism for creating sexualized images of real people.
In this regard, the European Commission and the British regulatory body Ofcom have launched an investigation into the company.
In January, xAI announced the introduction of restrictions on the creation of images that may violate legislation.
