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SpaceX acquires xAI, Musk confirms: Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said that his aerospace company SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence (AI) start-up XAI. The deal to acquire XAI was posted by Musk on X (formerly known as Twitter) and was also shared on the social media platform XAI. Musk's xAI owns and operates his social network X after the two entities merged last year.

"To the stars! @SpaceX & @xAI are now one company," Elon Musk tweeted.

This information was also shared through a blog post on the official website of SpaceX. According to a SpaceX press release, this merger will eventually make it possible to place solar-powered AI data centres in space.

The blog post said, this acquisition aims "to 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."

In his note on the SpaceX and XAI merger, Musk said this merger marks a new beginning in the mission of SpaceX and XAI. "This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI's mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars!" said the billionaire entrepreneur.

According to the foreign media report, the combined company of SpaceX and XAI is valued at USD 1.25 trillion, and SpaceX plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) later this year.

Musk said, "My estimate is that within 2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space. This cost-efficiency alone will enable innovative companies to forge ahead in training their AI models and processing data at unprecedented speeds and scales, accelerating breakthroughs in our understanding of physics and invention of technologies to benefit humanity."

"This new constellation will build upon the well-established space sustainability design and operational strategies, including end-of-life disposal, that have proven successful for SpaceX's existing broadband satellite systems."

The merger follows after SpaceX last week filed an official request with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deploy and operate a constellation of up to one million satellites designed as orbital data centres with unprecedented computing power for advanced AI models and applications.

xAI's main product, Grok, is under investigation in the European Union over its AI image generation feature, with concerns that it was used to create sexualised images. xAI has said it has imposed restrictions on Grok users that limit image editing.

With ANI Inputs