Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI in talks to merge, according to reports
Three of Elon Musk’s companies — SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla — are in play for a potential merger. While the talks appear to be in the early stage, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters, it could eventually lead to at least one company folding into SpaceX.
Two scenarios are being hashed out. In one, SpaceX and Tesla would merge, per Bloomberg, citing unnamed insiders. In another, SpaceX and aXI (which already owns Musk’s social media platform X) would combine.
According to reporting by Reuters, a merger between SpaceX and xAI could take place ahead of a planned SpaceX IPO this year. This would bring products like the Grok chatbot, X platform, Starlink satellites, and SpaceX rockets together under one corporation.
Company representatives from SpaceX and xAI have not discussed this possibility in public. However, recent filings show that two new corporate entities were established in Nevada on January 21, which are called K2 Merger Sub Inc. and K2 Merger Sub 2 LLC. This suggests that Musk is keeping all options open.
There are upsides to either scenario. Combining the SpaceX and xAI companies could allow xAI to put its data centers in space, something Musk has said he wants. A SpaceX-Tesla tie-up could align the EV maker’s energy storage business with the data center in space idea as well.
And both options — as well as a combination of all three companies — fall in line with Musk’s comments and recent actions to consolidate, or at the very least share resources between them. Last year, SpaceX agreed to invest $2 billion in xAI, according to The Wall Street Journal, and earlier this week, Tesla (also led by Musk) revealed it, too, invested $2 billion in the AI startup.
Last year, xAI bought X in a deal that Musk said valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. SpaceX, which has been around since 2002, reportedly launched a secondary sale that valued it at $800 billion, making it the most valuable private company in the U.S.
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A recent Financial Times report indicated that Musk wants to take SpaceX public in June. Then again, Musk’s grand plans rarely happen on time.
This article was originally published at 10:30 a.m. PT. It has since been updated with new information about Tesla.
Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.
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Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
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