“SpaceX will have to figure out how to prove their 1-million-satellite ‘orbital data center’ constellation does not effectively ‘appropriate’ low Earth orbit through saturation.”
-Shruti Gurudanti, Rose Law Group partner and leader of the firm’s space law practice
By Reuters
Elon Musk said on Monday that SpaceX has acquired his artificial-intelligence startup xAI in a record-setting deal that unifies Musk’s AI and space ambitions by combining the rocket-and-satellite company with the maker of the Grok chatbot.
The deal, first reported by Reuters last week, represents one of the most ambitious tie-ups in the technology sector yet, combining a space-and-defense contractor with a fast-growing AI developer whose costs are largely driven by chips, data centers and energy. It could also bolster SpaceX’s data-center ambitions as Musk competes with rivals like Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, Meta (META.O), opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab-backed Anthropic and OpenAI in the AI sector.
