This post was originally published on Data Center Knowledge
Tech magnate Elon Musk on Tuesday said SpaceX had acquired artificial intelligence firm xAI – a move that marries the aerospace and defense contractor with Musk’s AI ambitions and could propel plans to send data centers to space.
Reports over the weekend said the companies were in advanced merger talks. That news, combined with SpaceX’s filing with the Federal Communications Commission for a one-million-satellite data center constellation in orbit, hinted at Musk’s combined strategy.
Citing anonymous sources close to the transaction, Reuters pegged the combined company’s valuation at $1.25 trillion, making it the new world record holder for the largest M&A deal. The same sources said investors at xAI will receive 0.1433 shares of SpaceX for every share of xAI as part of the deal. Other sources said the company could reach a valuation of $1.5 trillion by the time of its public offering.
In a SpaceX blog post, Musk outlined goals for the merger.
“This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI’s mission,” he wrote. “Current advances in AI are dependent on large terrestrial data centers, which require immense amounts of power and cooling.
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