SpaceX Acquires xAI to Build Space-Based AI Data Centers

SpaceX has acquired xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, to create a unified platform for developing space-based AI infrastructure, announced in a press release. The merger aims to launch orbital data centers powered by near-constant solar energy, reducing reliance on terrestrial power sources and cooling systems.

According to the announcement, current AI data centers on Earth consume significant electricity and face scalability limits. By moving compute operations to orbit, SpaceX plans to harness solar power directly and deploy a constellation of satellites functioning as orbital data centers. Each satellite is expected to generate around 100 kilowatts of computing capacity per ton, with long-term plans to scale to terawatt levels annually.

The initiative will rely on the Starship rocket, which will begin launching upgraded Starlink satellites capable of supporting direct-to-mobile communications. SpaceX intends to use Starship’s heavy-lift capabilities to deploy large volumes of hardware into orbit, enabling millions of tons of computing infrastructure each year.

The company also outlined future goals to establish lunar manufacturing facilities to produce and launch additional satellites deeper into space. These efforts, SpaceX stated, will support both AI computing and the company's broader ambitions for lunar and Martian operations.