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January 29, 2026<\/p>\n
1 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX reportedly mulling a merger with xAI<\/p>\n SpaceX and xAI could join forces ahead of Elon Musk\u2019s plan to take the former public later this year, according to Reuters<\/p>\n By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner<\/span><\/p>\n Elon Musk\u2019s aerospace company SpaceX and his artificial intelligence start-up xAI are reportedly mulling a merger, a move that would bring SpaceX\u2019s rockets and its satellite Internet subsidiary Starlink under a single umbrella with xAI\u2014which oversees the social media platform X and the chatbot Grok.<\/p>\n The two wings of Musk\u2019s sprawling tech empire could merge ahead of a plan to take SpaceX public later this year, according to Reuters, which cited an anonymous source and recent company filings. SpaceX\u2019s initial public offering could see the company valued at $1.5 trillion, according to the Financial Times. A merger with xAI could boost Musk\u2019s plan to use SpaceX\u2019s still-in-development Starship rocket to launch orbital AI data centers, experts have speculated.<\/p>\n Musk and other AI leaders are increasingly bullish on space as an answer to all the problems with data centers: Though costly to build and expensive to power, increasingly sprawling data centers are central to many AI company\u2019s growth strategies. If the demand for AI continues to grow, earthbound data centers\u2014and power supplies\u2014may not be able to keep up. Data centers in orbit, however, would have practically unlimited access to solar energy\u2014although such hardware would also come with its limits.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n SpaceX and xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 29, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX reportedly mulling a merger with xAI SpaceX and xAI could join forces ahead of Elon Musk\u2019s plan to take the former public later this year, according to Reuters By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner Elon Musk\u2019s aerospace company SpaceX and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[91,1910,8825,92,2183,73,4070],"class_list":{"0":"post-43143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-elon","9":"tag-merger","10":"tag-mulling","11":"tag-musks","12":"tag-reportedly","13":"tag-spacex","14":"tag-xai"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n