A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and xAI logo.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Elon Musk’s space firm SpaceX said on Monday (February 2, 2026) it has acquired his artificial intelligence startup xAI, combining the rocket-and-satellite company with the maker of the Grok chatbot in a move aimed at unifying Mr. Musk’s AI and space ambitions.
A merger would represent one of the most high-profit corporate pairings in Silicon Valley, blending a space-and-defence contractor with a rapidly evolving AI developer whose costs are dominated by chips, data centres and energy.
The deal illustrates Mr. Musk’s push to fuse his fast-growing AI efforts with his aerospace and satellite-internet empire, betting that shared computing, data and engineering talent can accelerate both AI development and potentially support longer-term ambitions around space-based data centres. SpaceX and the AI startup were in discussions to merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for later this year, Reuters had reported on Thursday (January 29, 2026), to bring Mr. Musk’s rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social media platform and Grok AI chatbot under one roof.
The combined company is expected to price shares at about $527 each, and would have a valuation of $1.25 trillion, Bloomberg News had reported earlier in the day.
Published – February 03, 2026 04:14 am IST