SpaceX and xAI Merge: Data Centres in Space? Musk's Plan

Aiming for Factories on the Moon Data Centres in Space? Musk Merges SpaceX and xAI

2026-02-03 Source: dpa 2 min Reading Time

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Elon Musk's AI company xAI needs significant funding. Access to billions from the space company SpaceX, also led by the tech billionaire, is expected to solve this problem. Moreover, Musk dreams of building data centres in space.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has merged his space company SpaceX with his AI developer xAI. Together, they plan to build, among other things, data centres in space, as Musk announced. He estimates that within two to three years, this will become the cheapest way to generate computing power for artificial intelligence, he wrote in a blog post.

Initially, the deal will enable Musk to fund xAI with billions from SpaceX's coffers. The AI company has a high capital burn rate and faces strong competition from entities such as Google and ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

According to the website "The Information," the acquisition of xAI cost SpaceX $250 billion. No official figures have been provided. The combined super company of space and AI is reportedly valued at a total of $1.25 trillion, as previously reported by financial service Bloomberg. Musk was already at the helm of both SpaceX and xAI.

Hourly Launches into Space

A key role in the establishment of data centres in space is expected to be played by SpaceX's Starship rocket, which can carry larger payloads into orbit. Musk mentioned the possibility of hourly launches of Starship rockets, each with a payload of 200 tonnes. This would enable the launch of millions of tonnes of technology. According to Musk's already known ideas, the energy for these data centres would be sourced from solar power—while in the US, there is currently a renewed expansion of nuclear power for energy production.

Factories on the Moon could benefit from local resources to build satellites that could be placed even deeper into outer space, Musk added. Within his corporate network, Tesla is developing humanoid robots that are intended to function even under adverse conditions.

Musk has also been announcing for many years now his desire to colonise Mars. So far, Starship has only conducted test flights, not all of which have been successful.

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