News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Elon Musk's SpaceX Teams Up With Cursor for AI Coding: How Rockets and AI Fit Together
Elon Musk's SpaceX announced on Wednesday that it is partnering with coding platform Cursor to build new AI models. As part of this deal, Cursor gave SpaceX the right to acquire the company later this year for $60 billion or to pay $10 billion for their work together. Cursor said in a blog post that its work has been "bottlenecked by compute," meaning it hasn't been able to develop more advanced models due to a lack of the necessary hardware and computing power. SpaceX's Colossus supercomputer, a data center-like complex in Memphis, Tennessee, is the solution, the two companies agreed. SpaceX said the supercomputer has the equivalent of a million H100 Nvidia chips, one of the most popular GPUs for AI development. The deal highlights the growing role of agentic coding tools beyond just software companies and developers. The potential acquisition also raises the possibility that Cursor could bring agentic coding abilities to xAI's Grok, a notable hole in its current offerings compared to popular competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI. Here's what you need to know about the deal. Cursor is an AI coding platform meant to help software engineers and vibe code enthusiasts alike. Composer's coding model, Cursor, is agentic. That means it can autonomously write code and run tasks. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called Cursor his "favorite enterprise AI service" in an October interview. The AI industry is fickle, and the opinion of a major leader like Huang isn't just free marketing -- it controls funding, directs research, shapes public opinion and ultimately determines whether a company is successful. The new partnership with SpaceX is likely to help solidify Cursor as a household name. These kinds of AI coding tools, like Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, have been very popular this year due to their ability to create things with AI, compared to a chatbot giving an answer based on existing information. They've also sparked a lot of debate and concern about the future of the software business as AI agents become increasingly capable of helping real humans. The SpaceX and Cursor partnership is most immediately about getting the resources to create more advanced AI models, with the lofty goal of creating "the world's best coding and knowledge work AI." That could certainly be used in SpaceX's rocket launches, but the scale of its business means the AI could be used in a variety of ways. SpaceX and Cursor did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment. Elon Musk has talked at length about transforming X (formerly Twitter) into his dream super app, similar to China's WeChat, which does social media, payments, messaging and more. While X is still solidly a social media app, with a heavy dose of Grok AI, he's building out an mega-congolmerate of companies under the X name. In February, SpaceX merged with xAI. That deal brought SpaceX's rocket business, Starlink satellites, the X social media platform and xAI's Grok chatbot under one parent company. Tesla isn't included. The Grok AI chatbot is probably best known now for creating nonconsensual sexual AI images, which prompted outrage and investigative inquiries at the beginning of the year. Adding Cursor to SpaceX and, theoretically, xAI's business would bolster its appeal to enterprise customers who want coding tech for work. The merger would bolster SpaceX's anticipated summer IPO, which would take the company public and allow people to buy shares of stock. Initial estimates say SpaceX could have the largest IPO ever, valued at $1.75 trillion. Musk has a financial stake or executive title in each business, so a successful merger and IPO would make the world's richest person even richer. There's no guarantee that SpaceX will acquire Cursor at the end of its deal. Bloomberg reported that the structure of the Cursor deal is partly because an outright acquisition now could further complicate the planned IPO -- already a nightmare of filings and paperwork. Musk is also a notoriously mercurial businessman, changing his mind and direction many times before deals are officially sewn up. His acquisition of Twitter was a long, drawn-out saga, where he tried to back out of his purchase before ultimately taking over and immediately changing the platform.
Elon Musk Gets 'Moonshot' SpaceX Pay Package: Here's What That Means - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Elon Musk is about to take SpaceX public on terms that would get most CEOs laughed out of a roadshow. Investors are lining up to buy in. It is the governance setup Musk has publicly admitted he wishes he had locked in at Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in 2010, where his roughly 18% stake leaves him technically removable. What Polymarket Is Pricing Polymarket traders give SpaceX a 72% chance of going public by June 30th and price a $1 trillion-plus closing market cap on day one at 93%. A $2 trillion debut is closer to a coin flip at 56%. That would edge out Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing as the largest IPO in history. Kalshi traders think there is a 3% chance that Trump will nationalize SpaceX before July 2026. The Power Grab Nobody Is Pushing Back On Shareholders will also have no say on pay. Tesla investors approved a potential $1 trillion award for Musk in November, and SpaceX's board has now granted him a second "moonshot" package tied to a market value as high as $6.6 trillion, according to The Information. Musk could be running two trillion-dollar incentive schemes in parallel, with compensation consultants warning he has obvious reasons to prioritize whichever looks more winnable at any given moment. He already owns roughly 40% of SpaceX after the February xAI merger. The IPO, the pay package, and the supervoting shares are designed to make sure that number only goes up. Image: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.
Microsoft reportedly explored buying Cursor as SpaceX secures rights to acquire the AI startup for $60 billion
Microsoft reportedly explored acquiring AI coding startup Cursor before SpaceX secured the rights to acquire the company in a deal valued at $60 billion. According to a CNBC report, people familiar with the matter claim that Microsoft considered making a move as part of its broader efforts to expand its position in the growing market for AI development tools. However, the company ultimately decided not to proceed with the bid.This move is happening at a time of stiff competition in the AI code-generation tool market, with all players focusing on developing software assistants for developers. Though Microsoft has been making good progress with its GitHub Copilot tool, Cursor has also made strides in this market segment. Microsoft has also positioned itself as an investor and cloud provider, supporting AI companies through its Azure platform.SpaceX confirmed earlier this week that it has agreed to acquire Cursor by the end of the year or pay the company $10 billion if the deal does not go through. In a post on X, the company said, "SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI." Cursor CEO Michael Truell added on X that he's "excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer," referring to the company's AI model.The agreement comes near the end of Cursor's fundraising phase, with some potential investors reportedly caught off guard by the development. Cursor's venture capital firms first raised capital for it at a valuation of about $50 billion amid high demand for app-building tools. SpaceX had also offered Cursor access to compute resources in the weeks leading up to the announcement.The move follows Elon Musk's decision earlier this year to merge SpaceX with his AI startup xAI in a deal valued at $1.25 trillion as the combined entity prepares for a potential public listing.Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to expand its AI offerings. Earlier this year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that GitHub Copilot had 4.7 million paying subscribers, reflecting growth in adoption. At the same time, OpenAI's Codex has reached 4 million active users, while Anthropic's Claude Code service has seen increased usage, helping the company reach $30 billion in annualised revenue.
Investing $5,000 in SpaceX IPO: Potential Returns in 5 Years
SpaceX is gearing up for one of the most anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs) in history. The company has filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and aims for a listing around June 2026. This IPO seeks to raise approximately $75 billion, potentially valuing SpaceX at over $2 trillion. Impact of SpaceX's Valuation on the Market If successful, this would position SpaceX among the top six most valuable publicly traded companies, closely following Amazon in market valuation. Unique Share Allocation for Retail Investors Notably, SpaceX plans to allocate 30% of its IPO shares to retail investors. This is significantly higher than the typical allocation, though demand is expected to vastly outstrip supply. Understanding SpaceX's Business Model While SpaceX is known for its space-launch capabilities, its main revenue driver is Starlink, a satellite internet service. In 2025, Starlink generated nearly $12 billion, constituting about 60% of SpaceX's total revenue. Starlink is also the only part of SpaceX currently profitable, boasting EBITDA margins exceeding 60%. In contrast, the launch business operates on tight margins with cash inflows nearly equal to outflows but maintains a dominant position in the global commercial spaceflight market. Investment Scenarios for SpaceX Investors eyeing SpaceX's IPO often wonder about the potential returns. If one were to invest $5,000 on the first day of trading, various scenarios could unfold over the next five years: * Bull Case: An annualized return of 20% could make the investment worth $12,442, assuming robust growth in Starlink and successful ventures into orbital data centers. * Base Case: A more conservative annualized return of 7% would result in a total valuation of $7,013, reflecting steady progress in the company's operations. * Bear Case: A potential decline of 15% could diminish the investment to $2,218, suggesting possible challenges in meeting bold growth expectations. Challenges and Skepticism Despite the optimistic outlook, some analysts express skepticism regarding the sustainability of high growth rates. Challenges include increased competition and potential limitations on pricing power for Starlink, particularly in developed regions. SpaceX's ambitions in artificial intelligence with xAI and plans for orbital data centers also raise concerns. Analysts point out practical difficulties associated with deploying data centers in space, affecting long-term profitability. The Bottom Line on SpaceX's IPO Ultimately, the future of a $5,000 investment in SpaceX could vary dramatically based on market conditions and the company's execution strategy. High-multiple growth stocks like SpaceX inherently carry risk, leading to unpredictable outcomes. Investors should weigh the potential rewards against the risks as they consider participation in this landmark IPO.
Forget SpaceX Stock -- Is RocketLab the Better Buy? | The Motley Fool
Could RocketLab stock, which is already public traded, offer a better alternative to its mighty competitor? Most investors are on the lookout for stocks that give exposure to untapped growth industries. And it's natural to pay attention to reports that Elon Musk's leading space company, SpaceX, could soon hit public markets through an initial public offering (IPO). But while this is exciting, all that glitters is not gold. Let's dig deeper into the potential pitfalls of buying SpaceX stock when it becomes available and compare it to a much smaller alternative called RocketLab (RKLB 7.83%), which is already publicly traded. Last week, SpaceX executives began meeting with bankers to outline plans for the stock's public launch in June. And according to Reuters, they have a target valuation of $1.75 trillion. Not only will it be the largest IPO in history, but it could also have the highest amount of shares allocated to retail investors at 30%, compared to the usual 5% to 10%. The report suggests that SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk, wants mom-and-pop investors to have a larger ownership stake in the company relative to more-sophisticated institutional investors. However, this decision could cause the equity to trade like a meme stock, where the valuation often becomes detached from a realistic assessment of growth and earnings. Investors should make sure to remain grounded in SpaceX's fundamentals instead of getting carried away by the excitement and hype. There are already some potential concerns that could make the stock risky. The first and most obvious drawback of the SpaceX IPO will be its size. The company's estimated market capitalization of $1.75 trillion would make it the eighth-largest company in the world, ahead of giants like Tesla and Meta Platforms. The difference is that these other businesses allowed retail investors to get in on the ground floor of their growth journeys, while SpaceX investors will have to buy shares potentially near the top. There are signs that the space company is maturing. Private market research firm Sacra estimates revenue grew by 18% year over year in 2025. While that's a decent number, it represents a sharp decrease from rates of 51% and 89%, respectively, in 2024 and 2023. SpaceX's pivot to generative artificial intelligence (AI) could also pose some risks. In February, the company purchased Musk's large language model (LLM) developer, xAI, in a stock deal worth $250 billion. The AI industry is extremely competitive, and while the deal could give the combined company a new growth driver, it also runs the risk of increasing losses and burning through cash that could have otherwise gone to shareholders. The Information, a technology news website, reports that SpaceX lost $5 billion in 2025, largely due to unprofitable AI-related spending. Investors who want exposure to the space industry without the slowing growth and generative AI risk involved in SpaceX have an alternative. RocketLab is a pure play that focuses on transporting payloads into low Earth orbit. With a market capitalization of $49 billion, it offers room for long-term growth, and it plans to ramp up its scale with the launch of a new, higher-capacity rocket called the Neutron later this year. That said, while RocketLab looks like a better buy than SpaceX, it is not without its risks. With a price-to-sales ratio (P/S) of 74, shares are already priced for perfection. And delays in the launch could lead to a market sell-off. Overall, investors should remember that space is still a relatively speculative and unproven industry. And whichever space stock you choose, it is best to only have moderate exposure as part of a diversified portfolio.
Forget SpaceX Stock -- Is RocketLab the Better Buy?
Could RocketLab stock, which is already public traded, offer a better alternative to its mighty competitor? Most investors are on the lookout for stocks that give exposure to untapped growth industries. And it's natural to pay attention to reports that Elon Musk's leading space company, SpaceX, could soon hit public markets through an initial public offering (IPO). But while this is exciting, all that glitters is not gold. Let's dig deeper into the potential pitfalls of buying SpaceX stock when it becomes available and compare it to a much smaller alternative called RocketLab (NASDAQ: RKLB), which is already publicly traded. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue " Last week, SpaceX executives began meeting with bankers to outline plans for the stock's public launch in June. And according to Reuters, they have a target valuation of $1.75 trillion. Not only will it be the largest IPO in history, but it could also have the highest amount of shares allocated to retail investors at 30%, compared to the usual 5% to 10%. The report suggests that SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk, wants mom-and-pop investors to have a larger ownership stake in the company relative to more-sophisticated institutional investors. However, this decision could cause the equity to trade like a meme stock, where the valuation often becomes detached from a realistic assessment of growth and earnings. Investors should make sure to remain grounded in SpaceX's fundamentals instead of getting carried away by the excitement and hype. There are already some potential concerns that could make the stock risky. The first and most obvious drawback of the SpaceX IPO will be its size. The company's estimated market capitalization of $1.75 trillion would make it the eighth-largest company in the world, ahead of giants like Tesla and Meta Platforms. The difference is that these other businesses allowed retail investors to get in on the ground floor of their growth journeys, while SpaceX investors will have to buy shares potentially near the top. There are signs that the space company is maturing. Private market research firm Sacra estimates revenue grew by 18% year over year in 2025. While that's a decent number, it represents a sharp decrease from rates of 51% and 89%, respectively, in 2024 and 2023. Image source: Getty Images. SpaceX's pivot to generative artificial intelligence (AI) could also pose some risks. In February, the company purchased Musk's large language model (LLM) developer, xAI, in a stock deal worth $250 billion. The AI industry is extremely competitive, and while the deal could give the combined company a new growth driver, it also runs the risk of increasing losses and burning through cash that could have otherwise gone to shareholders. The Information, atechnology newswebsite, reports that SpaceX lost $5 billion in 2025, largely due to unprofitable AI-related spending. Investors who want exposure to the space industry without the slowing growth and generative AI risk involved in SpaceX have an alternative. RocketLab is a pure play that focuses on transporting payloads into low Earth orbit. With a market capitalization of $49 billion, it offers room for long-term growth, and it plans to ramp up its scale with the launch of a new, higher-capacity rocket called the Neutron later this year. That said, while RocketLab looks like a better buy than SpaceX, it is not without its risks. With a price-to-sales ratio (P/S) of 74, shares are already priced for perfection. And delays in the launch could lead to a market sell-off. Overall, investors should remember that space is still a relatively speculative and unproven industry. And whichever space stock you choose, it is best to only have moderate exposure as part of a diversified portfolio. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a "Double Down" stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Right now, we're issuing "Double Down" alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join Stock Advisor, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon. Will Ebiefung has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Rocket Lab, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
SpaceX's IPO Will Help Elon Musk Consolidate Power. Investors Welcome It.
Musk is poised to have even more sway at his rocket-maker, SpaceX, which is aiming to go public in June. Ethan Swope/Bloomberg News Tesla's TSLA -1.95%decrease; red down pointing triangle shareholders already give Elon Musk leeway, entertaining the billionaire's whims as he plows money into robots and blessing a $1 trillion pay package that will pay out if he hits long shot targets. He is poised to have even more sway at his rocket-maker, SpaceX, which is aiming to go public in June. SpaceX's board has already granted him its own "moonshot" pay package, people familiar with the matter say. And, unlike at Tesla, the billionaire is expected to control SpaceX through the use of so-called supervoting shares, the people said. While such moves raise the eyebrows of many corporate-governance experts -- until as recently as 2023, the S&P 500 banned companies with dual-class shares from entering its index -- investors large and small seem so eager for a piece of Musk that they are willing to overlook and even welcome such founder-friendly terms. Musk and his associates are pitching existing and prospective investors on SpaceX's IPO this week in Starbase, the company town outside of Brownsville, Texas, where SpaceX builds and launches its Starship rockets. Several existing SpaceX investors say they welcome the moves to keep Musk's interests aligned with their own. SpaceX representatives have been telling investors they already have enough interest in the IPO from a mix of institutional investors and sovereign-wealth funds to raise the $40 billion to $80 billion they envision. And that is before factoring in the individual investors, who SpaceX hopes will buy one-third or more of the offering's shares, well above the typical portion. While most SpaceX shareholders will hold Class A shares with one vote each on company matters, Musk and other key executives are expected to hold Class B shares that get 10 votes each, the people familiar with the matter said. Part of the motivation for giving himself and other key executives supervoting shares at SpaceX is to consolidate power from the beginning, which Musk didn't do ahead of Tesla's 2010 IPO, other people familiar with the matter say. He has publicly expressed frustration that he could be voted out of the electric-vehicle maker, where he holds roughly 18% of the company's single share class, including options he could exercise any time, according to Verity Platform, which tracks insider share ownership. Musk owned around 40% of SpaceX at the end of last year, according to public filings. That stake has likely grown since he merged SpaceX with his artificial-intelligence company xAI in February. Supervoting shares at SpaceX could also make it easier for Musk to one day merge Tesla and SpaceX, which many investors believe is his ultimate goal. SpaceX was valued at around $1.25 billion following the xAI deal. If it debuts at the even higher valuation envisioned, Musk would lead two of the roughly 10 or so public U.S. companies with valuations above $1 trillion. He would also hold two moonshot pay packages, which corporate-governance experts warn could motivate him to devote most of his time and energy to whichever seems most likely to pay off. "He's obviously a high-powered person, and people can multitask, but there is at least the potential for some divided loyalties," said Margaret Engel, founding partner at pay-consultancy Compensation Advisory Partners. The Information reported earlier this week that SpaceX plans to award Musk tens of millions of shares if the company's market value reaches as high as $6.6 trillion, among other things. The pay package that Tesla shareholders approved for Musk in November could pay out $1 trillion in stock if he hits such goals as delivering millions of cars and a million robots, increasing the company's market value to $8.5 trillion from its $1.5 trillion high last year and pushing profitability dramatically. The company's board called the arrangement key to keeping Musk engaged with the company, given his many other projects. On Wednesday, Tesla surprised Wall Street with better-than-expected profits and free cash flow, while also forecasting $25 billion in capital expenditures this year as it spends on AI compute and new factories.
SpaceX may build its own GPUs to reduce chip supply risks
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What we know so far: SpaceX may be about to take on one of the most difficult jobs in the tech industry: making its own AI chips. According to reports, the company has warned prospective investors that chip supply constraints and the cost of securing enough compute hardware could become a serious problem. As such, it's now considering manufacturing its own GPUs. The disclosure appears in excerpts from SpaceX's S-1 filing ahead of its expected IPO this summer. Reuters says the filing lists "manufacturing our own GPUs" among the "substantial capital expenditures" the company is taking on. The filing acknowledges that SpaceX still expects to rely heavily on third-party suppliers for a significant portion of its compute hardware. The company also said it does not have long-term contracts with many of its direct chip suppliers, leaving it more exposed to shortages or price spikes. Elon Musk outlined a joint Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and Intel chipmaking effort last month called Terafab, an advanced manufacturing complex planned for Austin, Texas. SpaceX's reported in-house GPU ambitions appear to tie directly into that same project, which is supposed to help produce the processors needed for cars, humanoid robots, and space-based data centers. It seems the plan isn't just about reducing Nvidia dependence; it appears to align with Musk's broader push to expand in-house AI infrastructure across his companies. Wanting to build GPUs and actually doing it are two very different things, of course. Producing cutting-edge chips requires billions of dollars, highly specialized materials, and a manufacturing process involving well over a thousand tightly controlled steps. It's still unclear when SpaceX plans to manufacture its own chips, whether "GPU" is being used precisely or as a catch-all label for AI processors, and which company would handle the fabrication technology inside Terafab. The report notes that SpaceX's filing frames compute hardware as a potential operational and financial risk, particularly given its reliance on outside suppliers and the lack of long-term contracts with some of them. Reuters says SpaceX's filing identifies compute hardware as a potential operational and financial risk because of its dependence on outside suppliers and the absence of long-term contracts with some of them. It also leaves several questions unanswered, including what role Terafab would play in that effort.
Elon Musk's aerospace and AI company reportedly plans to make its own GPUs, though I doubt you'll one day be enjoying a SpaceX graphics card in your rig
SpaceX, the private aerospace and AI company founded by Elon Musk, is reportedly planning to make its own GPUs in the not too distant future. The company plans to go public this summer, with an expected IPO of $1.75 trillion. Part of that process involves filing an S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which details a company's finances and risks prior to going public. Reuters reviewed an excerpt of this document, and spotted that SpaceX lists "manufacturing our own GPUs" under its "substantial capital expenditures." Now, you and I think of a very distinct, game-ready thing when we hear the term 'GPU', but I suspect SpaceX's plans don't fully fall upon the same page. The odds are these chips will be more specifically geared towards some sort of AI workload, not unlike Google's tensor processing units (or TPUs, if you were hankering for yet another hardware initialism). It's not yet clear exactly how much cash SpaceX might be pouring into this hardware endeavor, but it's hardly a surprising development given Musk's recent team up with Intel. This partnership will see Intel "design, fabricate, and package ultra-high-performance chips at scale" in order to "accelerate Terafab's aim to produce 1 TW/year" in compute power. For those that need the refresher, the Terafab project is an advanced AI chip manufacturing complex planned to be built in Austin, Texas. The massive project currently intends to handle chip fabrication, packaging, and testing. It is a megazord effort between SpaceX's xAI unit and Tesla, though it's not yet clear the exact type of chips this fab will produce. Most recently, Musk said in an earnings call that Terafab will "use Intel's 14A process, which is state-of-the-art and in fact not yet totally complete. But given that by the time Terafab scales up, 14A will be probably fairly mature or ready for prime time, 14A seems like the right move." To return to SpaceX's GPU plans, it's currently unclear whether a partner such as Intel will fabricate these, or the company will look elsewhere. It's kind of a weird time to announce any fresh hardware venture, especially as GPU giant Nvidia's main manufacturing partner TSMC has its hands very full and many other production lines are similarly fit to busting. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, SpaceX admits in that aforementioned S-1 registration that it does not "have long-term contracts with many of our direct chip suppliers." The document continues, "We expect to continue sourcing a significant portion of our compute hardware from third-party suppliers, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve our objectives with respect to Terafab within the expected timeframes, or at all." That's probably not the most attractive prospect for investors, but time can only tell whether SpaceX and its GPU efforts entices some sharks.
SpaceX partners with Pakistan-born Sualeh Asif's AI startup Cursor
SAN FRANCISCO: SpaceX announced a partnership with AI coding company Cursor, an AI code-generation startup co-founded by Pakistan-born Sualeh Asif, and said the alliance comes with an option to buy the startup for $60 billion later this year. The move by Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company comes as it prepares to become publicly traded, and shortly after it took over the billionaire's artificial intelligence outfit xAI. Cursor, founded in 2022 and based in San Francisco, specialises in AI for creating software code, particularly for business uses. "SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI," the company said in a X post on Tuesday. Combining Cursor's software and product expertise with SpaceX's "Colossus" AI training supercomputer will enable the company "to build the world's most useful models," it said. The partnership comes as AI sector rivals vie to be the preferred option for software developers. Cursor competes with Microsoft's social coding platform GitHub, which has been a leading resource in the developer community. OpenAI announced on Tuesday that its coding tool, Codex, has grown to four million weekly users, up from three million just weeks ago. Meanwhile, Anthropic has put out word that revenue from its Claude Code tool for developers has surged. It is pertinent to mention here that Karachi-born Asif joined Nixor College before attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and represented the country in the International Math Olympiad from 2016 to 2018. Meanwhile, he cofounded Anysphere, the maker of the popular AI code editing tool Cursor, with three of his friends from MIT. The company now has over $1bn in annualised revenue, making it one of the fastest-growing AI startups, says Forbes. Musk announced in February that SpaceX would acquire xAI, a step in his plan to launch solar-powered, satellite-based data centers to run future AI models. SpaceX has set the pace in the space launch market, offering reusable rockets that vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit and itself owning the largest satellite constellation, Starlink. The company is set for a stock market listing this year widely expected to be the biggest in history, with media reports pointing to an initial public offering (IPO) as early as June. Musk called SpaceX's absorption of xAI "not just the next chapter, but the next book" for the companies. "Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions... The only logical solution therefore is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space," Musk wrote when his companies were merged. The project fits into Musk's long-term ambition to build colonies on the Moon and Mars and is "a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization," he wrote. Coined in the 1960s by a Soviet astronomer, the futurist term refers to a civilization able to use all of the energy from its home system's star. SpaceX filed papers early this year with US regulators that set the stage for what could be the largest-ever public stock offering, a source familiar with the matter told AFP. The confidential filing puts the rocket and satellite builder on track to list its shares on a public exchange by July, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources. Media reports have said the initial public offering could be valued at a whopping $75 billion or more, for a venture with stratospheric ambitions. If successful, SpaceX could arrive on Wall Street with a valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion, putting it among the world's ten biggest companies by market capitalization. Besides SpaceX, two other tech heavyweights, the AI developers OpenAI and Anthropic, are reportedly planning IPOs this year.
SpaceX targets in-house GPUs, warns of substantial capital expenditures
SpaceX might be tackling one of the biggest challenges in the chip business: manufacturing the keys to powering artificial intelligence (AI) called graphics processing units, or GPUs. Ahead of SpaceX's US$1.75 trillion initial public offering expected this summer, the company has warned prospective investors of its big spending plans to develop AI and other technologies. It lists "manufacturing our own GPUs" among the "substantial capital expenditures" it is undertaking, according to excerpts of its S-1 registration. Companies file this document to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose their risks and finances before going public. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the size of the expected expenditure could not be determined. The ambition follows work by SpaceX, its xAI unit and Tesla to jointly develop the Terafab, an advanced AI chip manufacturing complex that chief executive officer Elon Musk is planning in Austin, Texas. Although Musk has said the project would target chips for cars, humanoid robots and space-based data centers, many details -- including the types of AI chips, such as GPUs, it would produce -- have been unknown. There are a range of approaches for chips that power AI. For example, Nvidia largely makes GPUs, which are general purpose and good at performing a wide array of data crunching tasks. Alphabet's Google takes another approach with its tensor processing units (TPUs), which are tuned to perform specific functions, key to building AI models and running chatbots such as Anthropic's Claude. It was unclear when SpaceX plans to manufacture its own chip and which companies -- the Terafab developers or their partner Intel -- would handle the fabrication technologies inside the plant. Musk told Tesla analysts on Wednesday that by the time Terafab scales up, Intel's next-generation 14A manufacturing process "will be probably fairly mature or ready for prime time" and "seems like the right move." It was also unclear if SpaceX, in its filing, used the term GPU as shorthand for AI processors generally. Still, the previously unreported plans for GPU production come as SpaceX warned investors that it might not have enough chip supply to power its growth. "We do not have long-term contracts with many of our direct chip suppliers," SpaceX said in the S-1 registration. "We expect to continue sourcing a significant portion of our compute hardware from third-party suppliers, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve our objectives with respect to TERAFAB within the expected timeframes, or at all," the company said. Manufacturing GPUs is not easy. Industry heavyweight Nvidia pioneered GPU design and, like much of the industry, outsources their manufacture to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電). TSMC has spent billions of dollars and years developing its most advanced manufacturing processes, which for cutting-edge chips require exotic materials and executing more than 1,000 steps with atomic precision. Its years of manufacturing billions of Apple's iPhone chips have afforded it an enormous amount of the required hands-on experience to produce cutting-edge processors. The chip industry, as it is organized, splits steps such as fabricating, packaging and testing among several discrete companies. Musk has said the Terafab would handle each step of chip production, including the design as well.
SpaceX brings analysts to xAI's Macrohard in Memphis: Reports
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, is scheduled to host a group of investors and analysts on Thursday at xAI's Macrohard data center in Memphis, Reuters is reporting. The Macrohard facility and the Colossus II computer are in the Whitehaven area of Memphis. xAI has three supercomputers and data center facilities in the Memphis area. The Memphis visit follows another one Tuesday at the SpaceX headquarters in Texas, according to Reuters. SpaceX acquired xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence company, earlier this year. SpaceX has filed for an initial public offering that could make it the largest-ever stock market listing, valued at $1.75 trillion. Thursday morning, at least one protester confronted xAI investors at a hotel in downtown Memphis, according to social media. The NAACP has filed a lawsuit against xAI, and several community groups have opposed the operation of multiple data centers in the Memphis area, citing pollution and health concerns centered on the facilities' use of gas turbines to generate backup power and the use of water from the aquifer.
SpaceX's IPO Plan Will Give Elon Musk Ironclad Rule Over the Resulting Empire
Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech When SpaceX makes it debut on the stock exchange later this year, experts expect it to be the largest public offering in financial history. Should that audacious prediction come to pass, it would widen Elon Musk's lead over the next-richest person into an unfathomable chasm, and cement him as one of the most powerful men in modern history. It's also sounding like the financial maneuver will give him an ironclad grip over the resulting empire, which includes xAI and X-formerly-Twitter. According to an IPO prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and unpacked by Reuters, once the company goes public, Musk will serve as CEO, CTO, and chairman of SpaceX's nine-seat board of directors. The company will pursue a dual-class equity structure, under which legacy investors like Musk will receive 10 votes each, while public shareholders only get one. In other words, Musk's mammoth slice of the pie -- though it only adds up to 42 percent of the company -- will give him a stranglehold over the behemoth aerospace enterprise. Given the equity Musk already holds -- he bought $1.4 billion in stock last year alone -- he stands to make billions once the shares debut on the market (SpaceX is said to be targeting a whopping $1.75 trillion valuation, coupled with a $75 billion fundraise, according to Reuters.) Shareholders sweetened the pot even further with Musk's latest pre-IPO compensation package, which includes a reward of 60 million in shares. In order to claim the prize, however, SpaceX will need to check two boxes: the company will have to reach a valuation of $6.6 trillion, and will have to fulfill Musk's fantasy of putting a data center in space. While the first stipulation could satisfy itself in today's topsy-turvey stock market, the second task will take some doing -- if it's even possible in the first place.
Pakistani-born founder's AI startup draws $60 billion buyout option from SpaceX in high-stakes tech bet - Profit by Pakistan Today
Aerospace giant secures acquisition rights or $10 billion partnership with fast-growing coding platform Cursor as it accelerates push into AI software ahead of a planned mega IPO. Pakistani-born tech entrepreneur Sualeh Asif has emerged at the centre of one of Silicon Valley's largest potential artificial intelligence deals after aerospace company SpaceX secured the right to acquire his startup, Cursor, for $60 billion later this year. Under the agreement, SpaceX can either proceed with the full acquisition or pay $10 billion to formalise a strategic partnership, signalling the company's deepening push into the rapidly expanding market for AI developer tools. The move comes as SpaceX prepares for a highly anticipated public debut in the coming months, with the company reportedly targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion and seeking to raise roughly $75 billion in what could become one of the largest initial public offerings in history. Industry observers say the arrangement is designed to strengthen the capabilities of xAI, the artificial intelligence venture behind the Grok chatbot, which was merged into SpaceX earlier this year. The partnership is expected to help the company compete more aggressively with rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have rapidly gained users by offering AI systems that automate software development tasks. In a statement posted on social media, SpaceX said combining Cursor's developer-focused platform with its large-scale computing infrastructure would accelerate the creation of more advanced AI models. The company pointed to its Colossus training system in Memphis, described as a supercomputer cluster with computing capacity equivalent to one million H100 graphics processing units, as a key asset supporting the collaboration. SpaceX and xAI have been investing billions of dollars to expand AI infrastructure in recent years. Cursor has experienced rapid commercial growth amid rising demand for automated coding solutions. The company reached a valuation of $29.3 billion in November 2025 after raising $2.3 billion from investors and reports annualised revenue exceeding $1 billion. Asif, originally from Karachi, co-founded the startup with three fellow students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He represented Pakistan at the International Mathematical Olympiad from 2016 to 2018 and is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $1.3 billion. Commenting on the development, Bilal bin Saqib said the achievement highlights the global potential of Pakistani talent while underscoring the need to build stronger innovation ecosystems at home. Separately, two senior engineering leaders at Cursor, Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg, joined SpaceX earlier this year to contribute to the company's lunar technology and artificial intelligence programmes.
SpaceX conquered the stars, now eyes bigger opportunity in AI
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO: SpaceX sees artificial intelligence as its biggest long-term growth opportunity, with more than 90 per cent of its estimated total addressable market tied to the sector, according to an S-1 filing reviewed by Reuters ahead of the company's expected initial public offering. The filing shows SpaceX estimates its total addressable market at $28.5 trillion, with around $26.5 trillion linked to AI and $22.7 trillion of that tied specifically to enterprise AI. The figures underline Elon Musk's ambition to make SpaceX a major force not only in space and satellite communications, but also in the fast-growing AI industry. SpaceX is moving ahead with an IPO expected this summer at a valuation of about $1.75 trillion, seeking to raise around $75 billion in what could become the largest stock market debut on record. "We believe we have identified the largest actionable total addressable market in human history," the filing said. A total addressable market, or TAM, is a measure often used by investors to gauge the maximum potential revenue available to a company if it were to capture an entire market. It is not a revenue forecast or valuation, but is widely watched in assessing high-growth businesses. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. The new disclosure marks a sharp contrast with the company's current business model, which remains heavily dependent on Starlink, its satellite internet division. Starlink generated $11.4 billion of SpaceX's total revenue of $18.7 billion in 2025 and delivered $4.4 billion in operating profit, making it the company's biggest revenue engine. By contrast, xAI -- the artificial intelligence company founded by Musk in 2023 and acquired by SpaceX in February -- posted an operating loss of $6.4 billion in 2025, widening from $1.6 billion a year earlier. Overall, SpaceX reported a loss of $4.9 billion last year. The filing also showed how capital-intensive the company's AI expansion is becoming. Total capital expenditure rose to $20.7 billion in 2025, with AI accounting for $12.7 billion -- more than spending on its space and connectivity businesses combined. SpaceX said it plans to build on xAI products including Grok Enterprise, while also developing an autonomous platform with Tesla called Macrohard. The company also warned prospective investors that it expects heavy spending on AI and related technologies, including the possible manufacture of graphics processing units, or GPUs, which are essential for advanced AI systems. It said it also plans to build a specialised sales force and deploy engineers directly into customer operations to help businesses adopt AI tools. "We believe that our enterprise strategy, which is focused on serving the digital needs of the world's largest industries with AI solutions, positions us competitively to pursue this rapidly growing opportunity," the filing said. Still, one source familiar with the company's financials expressed caution over the scale of the valuation being discussed, saying investors placing value only on businesses with clear visibility today may struggle to justify where the market could ultimately price the stock._Reuters
SpaceX reportedly eyes $28.5Tn 'Enterprise AI' market with in-house GPU plans - The Tech Portal
Elon Musk is positioning SpaceX beyond rockets, informing investors that it is targeting a massive $28.5 trillion opportunity in artificial intelligence, particularly in the enterprise AI segment, reports Reuters, citing a recent IPO-related filing. The company estimates this figure as its total addressable market, meaning the maximum revenue it could generate if it captured the entire segment. In the same filing, the firm also warned investors about heavy spending plans to build AI capabilities, including developing its own GPU chips and computing infrastructure. SpaceX's estimate assigns around $26 trillion of the total opportunity directly to AI, with over $22 trillion linked specifically to enterprise applications. These include AI-driven corporate software, industrial automation, logistics optimization, financial modeling, defense systems, and healthcare technologies. The company argues that AI will become embedded in nearly every business process, effectively transforming the global economy into a software and data-driven system. This clearly highlights a fundamental shift in how SpaceX sees its future. Traditionally known for launch services and satellite deployment, the company is now framing itself as a full-stack AI infrastructure provider. Its satellite internet division, Starlink, already generates more than $10 billion annually and provides global connectivity, which SpaceX views as a key foundation for delivering AI services worldwide. A major component of this transformation is the integration of xAI, Musk's AI venture, into SpaceX's broader ecosystem. The merger was formally completed on February 2026, in an all-stock transaction that valued SpaceX at around $1 trillion and xAI at about $250 billion, creating a combined entity worth about $1.25 trillion. Following the acquisition, xAI was turned into a wholly owned subsidiary and underwent significant restructuring, including leadership changes and team consolidation. The strategic goal behind the deal is to tightly integrate xAI's large-scale model development - like its Grok systems - with SpaceX's physical assets, including rockets, satellite networks, and energy systems. By bringing all these capabilities together, the company wants to build a single, fully connected system that can provide AI services worldwide. It is also exploring future ideas like data centers in space, which could use solar power and natural cooling to solve energy and heat problems faced on Earth. And to support its AI ambitions, SpaceX is also investing heavily in hardware and semiconductor infrastructure. The company has outlined plans to design its own GPU-class processors and reduce reliance on external suppliers. The effort is part of a broader initiative known as 'Terafab', a large-scale semiconductor manufacturing project announced in March. Terafab is being developed as a joint venture involving SpaceX, xAI, Tesla, and Intel. The project is designed as a vertically integrated 'mega-fab' that brings together chip design, fabrication, memory production, advanced packaging, and testing under a single system. Intel's involvement is particularly significant, as it provides expertise in advanced manufacturing processes, including its next-generation 14A fabrication technology, which is expected to be used in the project. At full scale, Terafab is expected to produce over 1 TW of AI compute capacity annually. All this is happening at a time when SpaceX has reportedly filed for a confidential IPO, targeting a valuation of around $1.75 trillion and aiming to raise as much as $75 billion. The Tech Portal is published by Blue Box Media Private Limited. Our investors have no influence over our reporting. Read our full Ownership and Funding Disclosure →
SpaceX Eyes $60 Billion Cursor Acquisition to Challenge Anthropic and OpenAI in AI Coding | Knowledge Hub Media
The AI coding tools market just got its biggest headline yet. SpaceX, fresh off its all-stock acquisition of Elon Musk's AI venture xAI, has announced a formal partnership with Cursor, the fastest-growing AI code editor in the world. The deal gives SpaceX the option to either pay Cursor $10 billion for their collaborative work or acquire the startup outright for $60 billion later this year. If the acquisition goes through, it would rank among the largest startup deals in technology history, and signal a dramatic new front in the intensifying race to dominate AI-powered software development. In this article, we'll discuss what this partnership means for the AI coding landscape, why SpaceX is making such an aggressive move ahead of its expected IPO, and how the deal positions both companies against fierce competition from Anthropic, OpenAI, and others. We'll also break down Cursor's meteoric rise from a student project to a $50 billion valuation, the strategic role of xAI's Colossus supercomputer, and what it all means for developers and investors paying attention to the AI arms race. SpaceX has struck a deal with AI coding startup Cursor that combines Cursor's developer-facing product with xAI's Colossus supercomputer, which boasts the equivalent compute power of roughly one million Nvidia H100 chips. The partnership includes a built-in option for SpaceX to acquire Cursor for $60 billion, or alternatively pay $10 billion for the joint work. This move comes as SpaceX prepares for what could be the largest IPO in history, with a target valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion. Key takeaways include... Who should read this: Software developers, AI enthusiasts, tech investors, and startup founders tracking the AI coding wars. It's hard to overstate how quickly Cursor has grown. Founded in 2022 by four MIT students (Michael Truell, Sualeh Asif, Arvid Lunnemark, and Aman Sanger), the company started as a fork of Visual Studio Code infused with AI-powered coding assistance. What began as a scrappy side project has become, according to TechCrunch, the fastest B2B software company to scale from zero to $2 billion in annualized revenue, reaching that milestone in roughly three years. The valuation trajectory has been just as staggering. Cursor was valued at $400 million in mid-2024, jumped to $2.5 billion by January 2025, climbed to $9 billion by May 2025, and then hit $29.3 billion after closing a $2.3 billion Series D round in November 2025. As of April 2026, the company is in advanced talks to raise another $2 billion at a pre-money valuation of $50 billion, with CNBC reporting that Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital are expected to co-lead the round. Nvidia and Battery Ventures are also expected to participate. What's driving this demand? Cursor isn't just an autocomplete tool anymore. Through acquisitions of startups like Supermaven (fast code completion) and Graphite (code review), and the launch of its proprietary Composer model, Cursor has evolved into a more comprehensive AI-native development platform. According to TechCrunch, Cursor now forecasts ending 2026 with an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $6 billion. Enterprise customers account for approximately 60% of revenue, and the company has reportedly penetrated 67% of Fortune 500 organizations. On the surface, a rocket company acquiring an AI code editor might seem like an odd pairing. But the logic becomes clearer when you consider what SpaceX has become under Musk's consolidation strategy. In February 2026, SpaceX acquired xAI in an all-stock deal that valued the combined entity at roughly $1.25 trillion, according to Wikipedia. That merger brought xAI's Colossus supercomputer, widely considered the world's largest AI training system, under the SpaceX umbrella. Colossus sits in a repurposed Electrolux factory in Memphis, Tennessee, and was built in just 122 days. It originally housed 100,000 Nvidia GPUs before being expanded to 200,000, with a roadmap targeting one million GPUs. According to xAI's own page, the system was built far faster than the industry standard of 18 to 24 months for comparable data centers. This is where the Cursor deal makes strategic sense. As TechCrunch noted, neither Cursor nor xAI currently has proprietary models that can match the leading offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Cursor still uses and sells access to Claude and GPT models, even as both Anthropic and OpenAI roll out their own competing coding tools. This partnership is designed to change that equation, with Cursor getting access to massive compute infrastructure it could never afford independently, and SpaceX getting a proven, fast-growing software business with real enterprise distribution to bolster its IPO narrative. And the timing here isn't accidental. SpaceX filed confidentially with the SEC on April 1, 2026, targeting a June listing that, according to Teslarati, could land at a $1.75 trillion valuation. Adding a high-growth enterprise AI business to the portfolio before the roadshow gives IPO investors something beyond rockets and satellite internet to price in. The deal between SpaceX and Cursor is unusual for a transaction of this scale. Rather than a straightforward acquisition, SpaceX has secured a one-year option. At some undisclosed point later this year, SpaceX will either pay $10 billion for the collaborative work or acquire Cursor outright for $60 billion. In exchange, Cursor can't be acquired by any other company during that window. This structure gives both sides significant advantages. For SpaceX, it's a chance to evaluate the partnership's results before committing to full ownership. If the joint work produces a competitive coding model that can challenge Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, the $60 billion acquisition becomes a strategic no-brainer. If results fall short, SpaceX walks away after paying $10 billion, which is still a massive sum but far less risky than an outright purchase. For Cursor, the deal guarantees either a $10 billion payout or a $60 billion exit, while also providing access to training compute at a scale no other independent lab could offer. As NextBigFuture pointed out, OpenAI reportedly tried to acquire Cursor in early 2025 and was rejected. Under this arrangement, Cursor stays independent for at least 12 more months while training on the biggest compute cluster on Earth. There are already signs that the integration is moving forward. Two senior Cursor engineers, Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg, have departed the startup to join xAI directly, where both report to Musk, according to TechCrunch. This strongly suggests that integration planning was underway well before the deal was publicly announced. The elephant in the room is whether this partnership can actually close the gap with the current leaders in AI coding. According to a TradingKey analysis, a March 2026 report by forecaster Peter Wildeford showed that among the world's major AI developers, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google sit in the first tier, while xAI and Meta lag behind by approximately seven months. Musk has acknowledged this gap and has committed to closing it by the end of 2026. The competitive dynamics are complex. Cursor currently relies on third-party models from the very companies building rival products. Anthropic's Claude Code has emerged as Cursor's primary competitor, while OpenAI's Codex targets the same professional developer market. GitHub Copilot, backed by Microsoft and OpenAI remains a major presence as well, and Google recently entered the space with their Antigravity IDE. It's an awkward position for Cursor, as their suppliers also happen to be their primary competitors. The Colossus supercomputer could be the differentiator here. If Cursor can use xAI's massive compute infrastructure to train proprietary models that rival or exceed what Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google offer, it would fundamentally restructure the company's unit economics and competitive positioning. Cursor's recently shipped Composer 2 model has already shown promise, and access to a million-GPU-equivalent cluster could accelerate that trajectory significantly. Still, some investors remain skeptical. The $60 billion price tag represents a significant premium over Cursor's current $50 billion fundraising valuation, and SpaceX is already seen as carrying financial strain following its acquisitions of xAI and the social media platform X. Whether the market views this as visionary or overextended may depend on results that won't be clear for months. Google's Eighth-Generation TPU: A New Era of Specialized AI Chips Can Flexible Data Centers Fix the AI Energy Crisis? A New Santa Clara Pilot Aims to Find Out What 3DIC Is and Why It Matters for AI Chips: Alchip's New Platform Explained OpenAI's GPT-Rosalind: A New AI Model Purpose-Built for Life Sciences Research
SpaceX Is Set to Tease Macrohard to Analysts on April 23. Mark Your Calendars.
The narrative around SpaceX is taking some interesting turns this week, and it's not because of headlines. The company has organized a series of closed-door analyst briefings, covering everything from their Starbase production plant to the mysterious Macrohard AI ambitions. This is not your everyday pre-IPO narrative construction. Meanwhile, financial markets have already started pricing the expected SpaceX IPO, setting the target valuation for the firm around $1.75 trillion. At first glance, that may sound like madness. Yet a closer look reveals the reasons behind the seemingly insane valuation assumptions. About SpaceX Stock The SpaceX business model is based on the two main pillars of launching infrastructure and Starlink satellite internet. Based in Hawthorne, CA, the company has become both a major launch vehicle supplier and consumer-facing Internet infrastructure provider. If the $1.75 trillion valuation materializes, the company will be instantly placed among the most valuable companies in the market. Compared to traditional aerospace firms, the growth path of SpaceX appears much steeper. While the growth rate is typically in the single digits for traditional companies, SpaceX was able to scale revenues to $15-16 billion with ~$8 billion EBITDA. Hence, gross profit margins are around 50%. When it comes to SpaceX's valuation, we should expect it to be extremely stretched. The assumption of a $1.75 trillion valuation implies around 220x EV/EBITDA. In comparison to the average EV/EBITDA ratio of around 24x in the aerospace industry, SpaceX will significantly deviate from the norm. Despite such lofty valuations, the SpaceX would still trade with relatively high multiples even accounting for growth potential. Until the end of the decade, the company's EV/EBITDA might remain above 100x. However, that does not necessarily mean that the valuation is fundamentally wrong - simply overly ambitious. SpaceX's Transition to AI Infrastructure Changes the Story Here's the thing - SpaceX is no longer just a "space" company. With xAI and Macrohard project, the company is moving to the position of a mixed player, operating infrastructure and providing AI technology solutions. The main idea behind Macrohard is straightforward - SpaceX wants to develop an infrastructure capable of replacing conventional software ecosystem with pure AI solutions. The plan implies the development of the colossus data center along with the ability to use large-scale GPU-based training systems in orbit. The result is SpaceX becoming a competitor to major AI providers, rather than the usual space firm. However, there's a catch. The economic sense of AI development in orbit remains questionable. Given the current constraints in the cost structure of space facilities and energy efficiency, terrestrial infrastructure appears much more convenient. So despite the impressive vision, the immediate contribution remains mostly conceptual. IPO Will Lift Up the Whole Aerospace Industry Another point worth highlighting here is related to market dynamics. Globally, the aerospace & defense industry is valued at around $3.2 trillion. Therefore, adding a $1.75 trillion company to this mix creates some distortions. Practically, SpaceX alone accounts for more than 50% of the total industry value. As a consequence, peers' valuations should follow and be re-rated, too. For example, previously viewed as expensive, space-oriented aerospace firms might appear reasonably valued against SpaceX. And pure-play space names can enjoy significant inflows due to thematic investment. There is also psychological impact when once private giants become publicly traded. The upcoming IPO is more complex than just a launch of a highly valuable firm. The company's analyst briefings should not be overlooked as the process of constructing the valuation framework and narrative begins. Thus, depending on the outcome of discussions, SpaceX may achieve higher multiples in the stock market or face increasing scrutiny over its valuation assumptions. Overall, it is an extremely important moment in time as a single firm's listing is capable of redefining industry multiples. And such opportunities rarely occur.
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Thomas Black: It's up to SpaceX and Blue Origin to stick the moon landing
The Artemis II mission around the moon provided a conflicted nation with a much-needed wave of shared enthusiasm derived from achieving a lofty goal. The mission -- a more comfortable and less complicated repeat of the Apollo 8 flight in 1968 -- was the first step toward the dream of returning to the moon and never leaving. Now comes the risky part. NASA is betting on two relatively new space companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, to build lunar landers and have them ready to test in an Artemis III mission next year. That would pave the way for the first mission back to the moon's surface since the final Apollo flight in 1972. Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is about to launch its New Glenn rocket for only the third time and is only now working on a human-rated orbital spacecraft, the Blue Moon lander. SpaceX, the dominant player in the burgeoning commercial space market, is running behind on its huge lunar lander and is more distracted than ever with an initial sale of shares to the public that could raise as much as $75 billion. Elon Musk's space company, which is digesting the February acquisition of xAI, is telling investors how it's working on direct-to-cell products and plans to build a network of data-center satellites. The focus now is on the crucial first test flight of its third version of the Starship rocket, whose launch was already pushed back a month to May. This is the challenge for Jared Isaacman, NASA's new administrator. On the one hand, he has a space-industry star in SpaceX that has experience building a capsule and sending astronauts to the International Space Station but has more pressing things on its agenda; on the other, he has a potential up-and-coming star in Blue Origin that is still unproven. The situation is also an opportunity for NASA to resume the kind of risk-taking that has been lacking to shake the agency out of a post-space-shuttle lethargy and to reignite passions for reaching a stretch goal under deadline pressure. The rationale for the moon-base mission is clearer than ever now that scientists have confirmed the existence of water, helium-3 and potentially other valuable minerals since the Apollo missions. The threat of China beating the U.S. on a permanent moon base goes much deeper than symbolism and would perhaps mark when the U.S. began losing its position as the dominant superpower on Earth. Isaacman is well suited for leading the space agency during the rise of the commercial space industry, with its large potential profits and much lower launch costs because of reusable rockets. He's an entrepreneur who as a teenager started a payments processing company -- Shift4 Payments Inc. -- from his parents' home. He flies fighter jets at air shows and started a company -- Draken International Inc. -- to train military pilots. Isaacman commanded two self-funded space missions with an all-civilian crew aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. This enthusiasm for space and executive leadership skills could be the right combination to get the Artemis program back on a schedule. He's seeking to repair morale at NASA by converting thousands of contractor jobs to staff positions and has promised to rebuild NASA's engineering and technical prowess. In a pivotal March unveiling of the revised moon program, Isaacman said that NASA experts would be embedded in companies throughout the supply chain to head off snags and threatened to take "uncomfortable action" if contractors slip into the bad habits of blowing past deadlines and budgets. Continuing the momentum with frequent Artemis launches is important to maintain support for the program. Under the new plan, NASA added a test flight for Artemis III in 2027 to demonstrate docking and crew transfer between Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Orion spacecraft and the new lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. The agency made clear it will carry out this test in low Earth orbit with only one lander if the other isn't ready -- a dose of healthy competition. To put astronauts on the moon in 2028, the landers will need to refuel in space -- another complex capability that will need to be proved. Unlike the Apollo missions, in which the dinky spacecraft and lunar module were loaded as one package on the giant Saturn V rocket, the Orion spacecraft and proposed lunar landers are much larger and must be launched separately. The Eagle lunar module that first landed on the moon in 1969 had living space of 235 cubic feet. SpaceX's lander will have nearly 10 times that. In 1960, NASA engineers and its contractors constructed equipment and ran tests using pencils, paper and slide rules. Today, computer simulation and reams of telemetry data speed up designs and eliminate most of the guesswork. It's now up to SpaceX and Blue Origin to prove that a new breed of commercial space companies has the market discipline to design innovative space vehicles and meet deadlines. Isaacman must prod along Blue Origin, which has fallen behind in this billionaires' race to space, and must keep SpaceX focused on the task at hand amid the noise of a record-breaking share sale. This certainly presents risk. It falls to Isaacman to ensure that, in the end, there's also reward.
SpaceX conquered the stars, now eyes bigger opportunity in AI
SpaceX estimates that its total addressable market - a closely watched metric - could be as much as $28.5 trillion, according to a S-1 filing reviewed by Reuters Over the last quarter century, Elon Musk revived space travel, turning cosmic exploration into thriving businesses. For its next act, Musk's SpaceX is eyeing an even bigger opportunity in something more prosaic: building artificial intelligence for the enterprise. SpaceX estimates that its total addressable market - a closely watched metric - could be as much as $28.5 trillion, according to a S-1 filing reviewed by Reuters. TAM is the maximum revenue a company could generate if it captured every customer in a particular market. The S-1 regulatory filing, in which companies disclose their financials and key risks before going public, shows that SpaceX expects more than 90% of that market - or $26.5 trillion - could stem from the AI sector. The vast majority of that, $22.7 trillion, could come from AI for businesses. The company is moving ahead with an IPO expected this summer targeting a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion and seeking to raise about $75 billion, which would make it the largest initial public offering in history. "We believe we have identified the largest actionable total addressable market in human history," according to the filing. The new information about where SpaceX sees its biggest market opportunity stands in stark contrast to how the company currently makes its money. SpaceX did not reply to a request for comment. Although a company's TAM is neither a forecast or a valuation, it is an important indicator for investors evaluating a high-growth company's potential. These figures are often vast and rarely questioned. When Uber went public in 2019, it claimed a $5.7 trillion market opportunity for its ride-sharing business alone. The eye-popping opportunity identified by SpaceX, tucked into more than 300 pages detailing its finances, underscores Musk's long-held desire to occupy a central role in the advancement of AI technology. The AI for enterprise market is currently dominated by Anthropic and OpenAI, AI industry leaders locked in intense competition, and both of which have indicated intentions to go public as early as this year. In February, SpaceX acquired xAI, an AI research company founded by Musk in early 2023. The filing seen by Reuters shows that xAI remains a nascent and deeply loss-making operation. The AI unit posted an operating loss of $6.4 billion in 2025, sharply wider than the $1.6 billion loss a year earlier. Those losses eclipsed the $4.4 billion in operating profit generated by Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet business and its largest revenue engine, which brought in $11.4 billion of its $18.7 billion total revenue last year. Overall, SpaceX lost $4.9 billion. SpaceX's AI unit is also resource hungry. In 2025, SpaceX's total capex surged to $20.7 billion, with AI accounting for $12.7 billion - more than it spent on its space and connectivity businesses combined. The company said it could capitalize on some of xAI's preexisting tools, such as Grok Enterprise and an agentic or autonomous platform it is developing with Tesla called Macrohard. In the filing, the company warned prospective investors of its big spending plans to develop AI and other technologies, including manufacturing the keys to powering artificial intelligence called graphics processing units, or GPUs. SpaceX also said it would assemble a specialized salesforce and send employees known as forward deployed engineers to embed directly with customers to help their workforces embrace AI. "We believe that our enterprise strategy, which is focused on serving the digital needs of the world's largest industries with Al solutions, positions us competitively to pursue this rapidly growing opportunity," SpaceX said in the filing. One source familiar with the financials of the company was not convinced. "If you decide I'm going to be really sober about this and only value the businesses that I can actually see, you're not going to be in the ballpark of what the market will almost certainly set the valuation to be," the source said. (Reporting by Echo Wang in New York and Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco; editing by Kenneth Li and Kim Coghill)
