SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he’s making space-based synthetic intelligence the “fast focus” of a newly expanded firm that not solely builds rockets and satellites, but in addition controls xAI’s generative-AI software program and the X social-media platform.
That’s the upshot of Musk’s announcement that SpaceX has acquired xAI. The Info quoted unnamed sources as saying that xAI was valued at $250 billion, whereas SpaceX’s worth was set at a trillion {dollars}. That may make SpaceX the most valuable private company in the world — however as a result of Musk held a controlling curiosity in each corporations, these valuations could also be considerably subjective.
Ross Gerber, an funding adviser who tracks Musk’s enterprise dealings, quipped on X that the world’s richest individual determined to go forward with the acquisition after “a brief negotiation with himself.”
Musk mentioned the mixture of SpaceX and xAI would facilitate the creation of a brand new constellation of orbital information facilities. SpaceX is already looking for approval from the Federal Communications Fee to put up to a million satellites in low Earth orbit for such a constellation.
Musk mentioned transferring AI processing energy into outer area would handle the massive challenges that ground-based information facilities face: the quickly rising want for electricity to keep the computers running, and the necessity for water to cool down the equipment.
“By straight harnessing near-constant solar energy with little working or upkeep prices, these satellites will remodel our capacity to scale compute. It’s at all times sunny in area!” Musk wrote. “Launching a constellation of one million satellites that function as orbital information facilities is a primary step in the direction of turning into a Kardashev II-level civilization, one that may harness the solar’s full energy, whereas supporting AI-driven purposes for billions of individuals immediately and making certain humanity’s multiplanetary future.”
SpaceX’s satellite production facility in Redmond, Wash., is already turning out roughly 70 satellites per week for the corporate’s Starlink broadband web constellation, and Musk mentioned the tempo would speed up as soon as SpaceX’s Starship super-rocket goes into service.
“The sheer variety of satellites that will probably be wanted for space-based information facilities will push Starship to even larger heights,” he wrote. “With launches each hour carrying 200 tons per flight, Starship will ship thousands and thousands of tons to orbit and past per 12 months, enabling an thrilling future the place humanity is out exploring amongst the celebrities.”
Musk mentioned orbital information facilities would supply “the bottom value strategy to generate AI compute” inside two to a few years.” He instructed that future AI satellites could possibly be constructed on and launched from the moon.
“Through the use of an electromagnetic mass driver and lunar manufacturing, it’s doable to place 500 to 1,000 TW/12 months of AI satellites into deep area, meaningfully ascend the Kardashev scale and harness a non-trivial proportion of the solar’s energy,” Musk wrote. “The capabilities we unlock by making space-based information facilities a actuality will fund and allow self-growing bases on the moon, a complete civilization on Mars and finally growth to the universe.”
Musk is regarded as getting ready the best way for an preliminary public providing of SpaceX shares within the months forward — and a few trade observers mentioned the acquisition and the proposal to place one million satellites in orbit could also be a part of a plan to pump up curiosity in these shares.
“I assume the 1 million determine is handy for publicity and the IPO, and primarily fantasy at this level,” Jim Cashel, writer of “The Great Connecting: The Emergence of Global Broadband and How That Changes Everything,” mentioned in an electronic mail.
Martin Friends, co-executive editor of The Info, mentioned “there’s no query this transfer is financially motivated.”
“Musk will be the richest man on this planet, however he’s dealing with the identical monetary realities the leaders of different AI startups face: It’s very tough to compete in AI improvement with deep-pocketed tech giants like Google and Meta Platforms, which personal money machines of their promoting companies,” Friends wrote in The Briefing.
Friends mentioned Musk is relying on buyers to purchase into his grand imaginative and prescient and throw a lifeline to xAI, which merged with X last year and has been facing financial troubles.
“He could possibly pull it off — he has a Pied Piper-like capacity with buyers. However he could run into skepticism as regards to information facilities in area,” Friends mentioned. “As we wrote in this deep dive on the subject final 12 months, ‘there’s a head-spinning array of technical and monetary impediments to creating’ information facilities work in area, ‘from guarding their computer systems in opposition to radiation, to sustaining them, to affording the expense of getting all that {hardware} into orbit within the first place.’ The thought of launching AWS-style information facilities in area, skeptics say, was science fiction.”
This report was initially printed on Alan Boyle’s Cosmic Log.
