News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
SpaceX scrubs Thursday launch of Starship V3 from Texas
May 21 (Reuters) - SpaceX on Thursday scrubbed the launch of its 12th Starship rocket from Texas and said it will attempt it again on Friday. Starship V3, uncrewed and featuring dozens of upgrades tailored for rapid Starlink satellite launches and NASA moon missions, was to be a key test for the vehicle following months of testing delays. It is also poised to affect investor confidence ahead of what might be the biggest initial public offering in history. Elon Musk's SpaceX had spent months redesigning Starship after a streak of failures last year, culminating in the V3 design that was meant to launch on Thursday. SpaceX called off Thursday's launch seconds before its planned liftoff, after multiple pauses to the countdown triggered by fuel temperature and pressure readings. Musk said on X that the a hydraulic pin on one of the launch tower's giant mechanical arms did not retract as designed. "If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT," Elon Musk said of the faulty arm. The fully reusable Starship, which SpaceX has spent more than $15 billion developing, is key to Musk's goals of cutting launch costs, expanding his Starlink satellite business and pursuing ambitions ranging from deep-space exploration to orbital data centers - all factored in to his targeted $1.75 trillion IPO valuation. Before the launch attempt on Thursday, Musk sought to temper expectations in case of failure, saying, "There is a large pipeline of V3 ships and boosters in the factory." He said a failure would not affect the cadence of future Starship test launches "by more than a month or so." SpaceX's engineering culture, considered more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industry's more established players, is built on a flight-testing strategy that pushes newly developed spacecraft to the point of failure, then fine-tunes improvements through frequent repetition. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in London, Chris Thomas in Mexico City; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates)
SpaceX tries to launch a bigger version of Starship but hits a series of last-minute problems
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight Thursday evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown. The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time.
SpaceX hits series of problems while trying to launch tries to launch bigger Starship
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight Thursday evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown. The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later said the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower's arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made Friday, he noted. Thursday's launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public. Starship holds 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released before the spacecraft's controlled entry into the Indian Ocean at the end of the hourlong flight. It will be the 12th test flight for a Starship and the first since last fall. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX abandons test launch of Starship rocket
Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Elon Musk's SpaceX abandoned a planned test rocket launch at the last minute on Thursday, just hours after revealing plans for a record-breaking $1.75tn public listing. The company, founded by Mr Musk, the world's richest man, has been testing the rocket that he hopes will one day carry a million people to Mars. Known as Starship V3, it had initially been scheduled to launch from Starbase, Texas, at 5.30pm local time, before being delayed twice to 6.30pm. It spent several minutes at T-40 while the SpaceX team worked through issues. The launch was abandoned at around 6.45pm local time, with plans to try again on Friday. Mr Musk said on X that "the hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract". "If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT," he said. The abandoned launch came just a day after SpaceX filed plans for a blockbuster float. SpaceX said it needed to raise tens of billions of dollars in order to protect humanity against the "non-zero probability of extinction-level events" by colonising other planets. "We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs," the company said in its prospectus. The filing detailed SpaceX's ambition to one day build a colony of one million people on Mars. Rapper and Donald Trump's "number one fan" Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance on the company's livestream of the launch. "Elon, thank you for everything you're doing for humanity," she said, before abruptly walking off camera. Thursday's launch was supposed to be the 12th test mission for Starship, a 400ft-tall rocket that Nasa plans to use for its Artemis Moon missions in 2028, which are intended to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years. It would have been the debut of a redesigned version of Starship, known as V3, launching from an entirely new pad. The rocket itself features redesigned heat shields and more powerful, lighter Raptor engines. Like past test flights, Starship is made up of two stages - a 237ft Super Heavy booster and a 171ft second stage intended to carry humans into space. On this mission, the Super Heavy booster is planned to splash down in the Gulf of America. In future missions, it will perform a mid-air flip before landing at a catching tower, which features a massive pair of "chopsticks". The Starship spacecraft will travel into space. On this flight, it will release several dummy satellites. For this particular test, SpaceX has also deliberately removed a heat shield panel to test the durability of its design on reentry. The failed launch is not likely to have a significant affect on share price when Mr Musk takes the company public next month, but it is not a good look. Ahead of the planned launch, Phil Scully, general partner at the space investment firm Balerion Space Ventures, was asked by CNN about the risks of a potentially "suboptimal" test flight so close to the SpaceX's IPO. "Of course, the optics matter," he said. "But Starship is still just one piece of a very large pie. And people who are interested in backing SpaceX know that it's built its reputation on rapid iteration and learning through testing." Mr Musk's SpaceX plans to raise as much as $75bn at a valuation as high as $1.75tn. In a prospectus filed with US regulators on Wednesday night, the company also disclosed some of its financial details publicly for the first time. The filing revealed SpaceX had racked up total losses of more than $40bn (£30bn) since its inception. It also showed that SpaceX posted a net loss of $4.9bn last year on revenues of $18.7bn. It has spent billions of dollars on its Starship programme so far.
Series of problems halts SpaceX Starship test flight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight this evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown. The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later says the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower's arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made today, he notes. Yesterday's launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public. Starship holds 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released before the spacecraft's controlled entry into the Indian Ocean at the end of the hour-long flight. It will be the 12th test flight for a Starship and the first since last fall. NASA is relying on this latest version of Starship to land astronauts on the moon in a few years.
SpaceX tries to launch a bigger version of Starship but hits a series of last-minute problems
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight Thursday evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown. The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later said the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower's arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made Friday, he noted. Thursday's launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public. Starship holds 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released before the spacecraft's controlled entry into the Indian Ocean at the end of the hourlong flight. It will be the 12th test flight for a Starship and the first since last fall. NASA is relying on this latest version of Starship to land astronauts on the moon in a few years. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX Tries to Launch a Bigger Version of Starship but Hits a Series of Last-Minute Problems
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight Thursday evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown. The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later said the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower's arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made Friday, he noted. Thursday's launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public. Starship holds 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released before the spacecraft's controlled entry into the Indian Ocean at the end of the hourlong flight. It will be the 12th test flight for a Starship and the first since last fall. NASA is relying on this latest version of Starship to land astronauts on the moon in a few years. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO - EconoTimes
SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again on Friday, according to CEO Elon Musk. The uncrewed Starship V3 represents a major step forward for SpaceX, featuring dozens of upgrades designed to support rapid Starlink satellite deployment and future NASA moon missions. The launch was expected to mark a critical milestone after months of delays and redesign efforts following several failed Starship tests in 2025. Seconds before liftoff, SpaceX halted the countdown multiple times because of unusual fuel temperature and pressure readings. Musk later explained on X that a hydraulic pin connected to one of the launch tower's mechanical arms failed to retract properly. "If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT," Musk stated. The latest Starship test flight is attracting global attention not only for its technological significance but also because it could influence investor sentiment ahead of a possible SpaceX IPO. Reports suggest the company is targeting a massive $1.75 trillion valuation, potentially making it the largest public offering in history. SpaceX has invested more than $15 billion into developing the fully reusable Starship rocket system. Musk sees the spacecraft as essential for reducing launch costs, expanding the Starlink satellite network, supporting deep-space exploration, and enabling future orbital infrastructure projects. Before Thursday's launch attempt, Musk warned that another failure would not significantly slow development. He emphasized that SpaceX already has multiple Starship V3 boosters and spacecraft in production, adding that any setback would delay future launches by only about a month. SpaceX continues to follow its aggressive engineering philosophy of rapid testing and continuous improvement, a strategy that has helped the company remain a dominant force in the global aerospace industry in 2026.
The main takeaways from Elon Musk's plans for $1.75tn SpaceX flotation
Elon Musk's SpaceX has revealed plans for a highly anticipated $1.75tn (£1.3tn) flotation next month as he seeks investor backing for his quest to make life "multiplanetary". SpaceX is a sprawling business, encompassing the eponymous rocket launch company, the Starlink satellite broadband service, Musk's xAI artificial intelligence startup and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Details about these businesses and Musk's ambitions for them were laid out in a flotation prospectus. Here are some of the main takeaways from it.
SpaceX insiders will get to sell shares earlier than usual after the IPO
When most companies go public, they follow a simple rule: insiders can't sell their shares for 180 days after the IPO. SpaceX is taking an unusual approach that could allow pre-IPO investors to sell sooner. The company built in a series of release valves that allow insiders to sell portions of their stock in the weeks and months after the IPO. This phased approach to insider selling accomplishes a few things. It prevents potential pressure on the stock when a lock-up is lifted and everyone can sell at once. And perhaps, even more noteworthy: It also could increase the float - or shares available to trade - sooner, which has implications for faster inclusion in the Nasdaq 100. Here's how SpaceX structured its lock-ups, according to the S-1 filling. After reporting earnings for the three months through June - the company's first results as a public company - insiders can sell up to 20% of their eligible locked-up shares. If this stock is also trading at least 30% above the IPO price at that point, they can sell an additional 10%. Then there's a rolling schedule, comprising 70, 90, 105, 120 and 135 days post-IPO, where another 7% unlocks at each of those interviews. Additionally, when SpaceX reports its second earnings as a public company - for the three months through September - an additional 28% can be sold. At the 180-day mark, whatever remains would be fully released.
SpaceX launches Starship again: Why this test is crucial for NASA's lunar plans and Elon Musk's company - ProtoThema English
SpaceX is preparing for one of the most important milestones in the Starship program to date: the first test flight of its upgraded Starship V3 system from Starbase, Texas. The mission represents a critical step forward for the company's long-term ambitions in deep space exploration, lunar transport, and Mars missions. The launch is also being closely watched beyond the aerospace industry, with implications for NASA's lunar roadmap under the Artemis Program and broader commercial expectations tied to SpaceX's future financial trajectory. The new SpaceX Starship V3 represents a significant upgrade over previous iterations. The system now stands at approximately 124 meters tall, making it the largest and most powerful version of Starship developed so far. At its core, the vehicle is powered by the latest Raptor V3 engines. The configuration includes 33 engines on the Super Heavy booster and 6 on the Starship upper stage. SpaceX claims these engines deliver higher thrust performance while improving reliability across multiple flight cycles. Key engineering upgrades focus on full reusability and in-orbit refueling capability -- both essential for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. These capabilities are central to SpaceX's long-term vision of building a fully reusable interplanetary transport system. The upcoming mission will also serve as a key test for satellite deployment systems. The upgraded Starship will carry 20 test satellites alongside two operational Starlink satellites. These payloads include experimental camera systems designed to monitor how the heat shield performs during atmospheric re-entry, providing valuable data for future missions and spacecraft redesigns. Success for Starship V3 is closely linked to NASA's upcoming lunar missions. SpaceX has been selected to provide the Human Landing System for astronauts returning to the Moon as part of future Artemis missions, including Artemis IV Mission, currently targeted for 2028. However, several key milestones still lie ahead. Starship has not yet completed a fully successful orbital mission, and critical technologies such as orbital refueling, long-duration space operations, and human-rated life support systems still require validation. NASA is also expected to conduct additional orbital demonstration missions in the coming years, including Earth-orbit tests involving docking procedures with the Orion spacecraft. The stakes for the Starship V3 test extend beyond SpaceX. A successful flight would strengthen SpaceX's dominance in the commercial launch sector at a time when competitors are advancing their own lunar systems. One of the most notable rivals is Blue Origin, which is actively developing its Blue Moon lunar lander and increasing testing activity in preparation for future missions. Any major failure in the Starship program could introduce delays, particularly as NASA continues to rely on multiple commercial partners for lunar infrastructure development. Beyond technical and scientific implications, Starship's performance is also tied to SpaceX's long-term commercial valuation. The company is widely reported to be preparing for a potential public offering in the future, with speculative valuations reaching as high as $1.75 trillion. A successful Starship program is considered central to that valuation, as it underpins multiple revenue streams including satellite launches, interplanetary cargo missions, and human spaceflight services. A significant failure, on the other hand, could affect investor confidence and delay strategic milestones tied to commercialization. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has downplayed concerns about potential setbacks, emphasizing the company's iterative development approach. He has suggested that even unsuccessful test flights are part of the engineering process, noting that failures would not fundamentally derail the program unless they cause major damage to ground infrastructure. The Starship V3 test flight represents a defining moment for SpaceX. With implications spanning NASA's Artemis program, commercial satellite deployment, and long-term interplanetary ambitions, the outcome of this mission could shape the future of space exploration for years to come. Whether it succeeds or encounters setbacks, the launch underscores the high-risk, high-reward nature of developing next-generation spaceflight technology.
Anthropic is paying $15 billion a year for access to Elon Musk's data centers
In a post on X, Musk said that SpaceX stands ready to offer similar deals to other AI companies that want to access the data centers. SpaceX is "offering AI compute as a service at significant scale," he said. SpaceX has been spending enormous amounts of money on AI since the company merged with Elon Musk's xAI earlier this year. According to the filing, the rocket company spent $12.7 billion in capital expenditures on AI in 2025, or about 61 percent of the total spend. It spent $7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared to just $1 billion on its space division. SpaceX's AI division lost $6.3 billion in operations on $3.2 billion in revenue in 2025, and lost $2.5 billion on $818 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2026.
The AI-Native Enterprise Services Firm Backed by Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman Announces Acquisition of Fractional AI - Blackstone
San Francisco, CA - May 21, 2026 - The recently announced AI-native enterprise services firm led by Anthropic, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and others to help mid-size companies bring Claude into their core operations, today announced the acquisition of Fractional AI, a leading applied AI services company based in San Francisco. Fractional AI's team and delivery capabilities will serve as the founding operational centerpiece of the new company. Fractional AI was founded in 2024 by Chris Taylor, Eddie Siegel, and Travis May, and has quickly become a top destination for the industry's best applied AI engineers. Built by a team with deep entrepreneurial and technical experience, Fractional AI has evolved into one of the go-to end-to-end AI implementation partners for enterprises. The team is world class at helping businesses across industries understand where AI fits, and how to choose and implement the right technologies for specific teams and functions. Fractional AI's engineering team will work with Anthropic's Applied AI organization from day one, enabling collaboration and close technical alignment to guide clients' AI transformation. The new AI-native enterprise services company is backed by a consortium of leading alternative asset managers including Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic, Leonard Green & Partners, Apollo Global Management, GIC, and Sequoia Capital. "Bringing frontier AI into a business takes more than a great model," said Garvan Doyle, a leader in Anthropic's Applied AI organization. "It takes the engineering judgment to rebuild real systems around what's now possible, and Fractional has assembled a team with exactly that capability. We're excited to be working alongside this team as they help enterprises put Claude to work." Chris Taylor, CEO, and Eddie Siegel, CTO, at Fractional AI, said: "Rewiring the economy for AI is going to be one of the biggest value creators of the coming decades, but most businesses need help realizing this opportunity. Our team of AI engineers and former founders thrives on building transformative end-to-end solutions. We're excited to team up with Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman to close the multi-trillion-dollar gap we see between where businesses operate today and where they can be." Rodney Zemmel, Global Head of the Operating Team at Blackstone, said: "We have built a strong relationship with Fractional AI through their work across the Blackstone portfolio, and it's clear they are a magnet for elite, applied AI engineers. Blackstone has spent years studying where AI creates durable value, and we believe the answer hinges on execution capability - the caliber of the team, the depth of their technical judgment, and their ability to change how a business operates. The opportunity ahead is one of the largest we have seen - and we believe there is no better team to serve as our nucleus for growth than Fractional." Tarim Wasim, Partner at Hellman & Friedman, said: "Anthropic's frontier models are genuinely unmatched in the enterprise. Unlocking their full potential takes expertise and judgment to redesign systems around what's newly possible. H&F has scaled some of the world's leading services businesses, and it was clear from Fractional AI's success in our portfolio that they are the right foundation for building a category-defining AI services firm." Terms of the Fractional AI acquisition were not disclosed. About Anthropic Anthropic is a frontier AI company whose mission is to steer the trajectory of AI to advance human progress. We are best known for building Claude, the intelligence platform trusted by millions of people and businesses worldwide. Anthropic is a public benefit corporation -- a for-profit committed to operating in service of social and public good -- and controlled by a Long-Term Benefit Trust, a group of independent experts in AI safety, national security, public policy, and social enterprise. About Blackstone Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which the firm invests. Blackstone's over $1.3 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram. About Hellman & Friedman Hellman & Friedman is a preeminent global private equity firm with a distinctive investment approach focused on a limited number of large-scale equity investments in high-quality growth businesses. H&F seeks to partner with world-class management teams where its deep sector expertise, long-term orientation, and collaborative partnership approach enable companies to flourish. H&F targets outstanding businesses in select sectors, including technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer services & retail, and information, content & business services. H&F was founded in 1984 and has over $115 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2025. Learn more about H&F's defining investment philosophy and approach to sustainable outcomes at www.hf.com. Contacts Anthropic [email protected] Blackstone Matt Anderson [email protected] Hallie Dewey [email protected] Hellman & Friedman FGS Global H&[email protected]
Kraken Secures Dubai VARA License Ahead of Planned 2027 IPO - TokenPost
Crypto exchange Kraken, operated by parent company Payward, has secured regulatory approval from Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), marking a significant step in its global expansion strategy. The approval allows Kraken to expand regulated crypto services in the United Arab Emirates through its locally licensed entity, strengthening its presence in the Middle East crypto market. With the VARA license, Kraken Prime will offer institutional and retail users access to services including instant trading, margin trading, OTC trading, staking products, and institutional-grade crypto solutions. UAE customers will also gain access to Kraken's global liquidity network spanning the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions. In addition, clients will be able to deposit and withdraw funds directly in UAE dirhams through the company's regulated Dubai subsidiary. Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi praised Dubai's progressive crypto regulations, noting that the emirate established a clear digital asset framework before many other jurisdictions recognized the industry. According to Sethi, operating under VARA provides stronger investor confidence by allowing Kraken to serve customers through a fully supervised local entity instead of relying on offshore operations. The Dubai expansion follows Kraken's recent rollout of regulated margin trading services in the United States. While UAE users currently have access to Kraken's Buy, Trade, and Earn products, including spot crypto trading and staking, the company plans to introduce additional offerings such as derivatives trading, crypto lending, and investment products for eligible clients in the future. The regulatory milestone comes as Payward reportedly postponed its anticipated U.S. IPO from 2026 to 2027. The company had already filed confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Reports suggest Kraken is targeting a valuation of nearly $20 billion ahead of its public debut. The delay reportedly allows the exchange to focus on artificial intelligence integration and operational restructuring efforts, including recent workforce reductions. Kraken also recently partnered with Franklin Templeton to expand into tokenized securities, further positioning itself within the growing digital asset ecosystem.
Binance Launches SpaceX Pre-IPO Perpetual Contract for Retail Traders - TokenPost
Binance has introduced a groundbreaking trading product that allows retail investors to speculate on the future valuation of private companies before they officially go public. The crypto exchange unveiled its first "Pre-IPO Perpetual Contract," linked to Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, marking a major step in expanding access to private market opportunities through crypto trading. The new SPCXUSDT perpetual contract on Binance Futures is settled in Tether (USDT) and enables traders to gain exposure to SpaceX's expected market value ahead of a potential IPO. Traditionally, pre-IPO investments have been limited to venture capital firms and institutional investors, but Binance aims to open these opportunities to everyday crypto traders. Shunyet Jan, Head of Spot and Derivatives at Binance, said the launch reflects the company's broader vision of merging crypto infrastructure with major financial events. According to Jan, the new product gives users a flexible way to participate in anticipated IPO activity before public listings occur. He also emphasized Binance's goal of evolving into a "financial super app" by broadening retail access to previously restricted investment products. The pricing mechanism for the pre-IPO perpetual contracts is based on publicly available data before the company's listing. This includes private funding rounds, estimated company valuations, and projected IPO price ranges. Once SpaceX becomes publicly traded, the contract price will transition to reflect the live market value of the stock. Interest in SpaceX has intensified following reports that the company purchased 18,712 BTC at an average price of around $35,000. Recent filings also revealed quarterly sales of $4.69 billion, despite a net loss exceeding $4.2 billion. Analysts and prediction platforms such as Polymarket are now estimating a strong possibility that SpaceX could achieve a valuation above $2 trillion at IPO. Binance is not alone in entering the pre-IPO crypto trading sector. Competing platforms including OKX, Crypto.com, and Hyperliquid have also launched similar products as demand for alternative investment exposure continues to grow in 2026.
Starlink Now Funds the Core of SpaceX's AI Strategy
The IPO filing shows Starlink generating the steadier cash flow while AI spending accelerates elsewhere SpaceX's IPO filing offers the clearest picture yet of how the company now operates financially. The business is increasingly anchored by Starlink, whose connectivity revenue has become the primary source of cash supporting a rapidly expanding AI infrastructure operation. The filing shows Starlink generated roughly $11 billion in revenue during 2025, accounting for more than half of SpaceX's total revenue. Independent market estimates place Starlink's annual revenue closer to $12.3 billion, or roughly 70% of company revenue. Subscriber growth has accelerated quickly over the last three years. Starlink moved from about 1 million users in late 2022 to more than 10 million globally by February 2026. The quarterly operating breakdown inside the filing illustrates how central the connectivity business has become. SpaceX's connectivity segment generated roughly $1.1 billion in operating profit during Q1 2026, while the AI division lost approximately $2.5 billion over the same period. The company's traditional space operations segment also remained unprofitable. That imbalance increasingly defines the economics of the company. SpaceX reported approximately $18 billion in revenue during 2025 while posting a net loss of roughly $4.9 billion. Since inception, cumulative losses have exceeded $37 billion. A large share of current spending is tied to xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, which was merged into SpaceX earlier this year alongside X. The filing shows xAI generated $3.2 billion in revenue during 2025 while recording a $6.4 billion operating loss. Capital expenditures tied to AI infrastructure reached roughly $20 billion during the year. Spending accelerated further in early 2026, with AI-related capex reaching $7.7 billion in a single quarter. The scale of spending reflects a broader strategic shift underway inside the company. SpaceX is no longer operating solely as a launch provider or satellite operator. The filing outlines an attempt to build a vertically integrated AI infrastructure business spanning compute, software distribution, connectivity, data collection, and model development. The economics remain heavily infrastructure-driven. Starlink satellites require continuous replenishment as orbital lifespans expire, while launch systems, rocket development, and satellite deployments create persistent depreciation and replacement costs. Those expenses remain substantial even as recurring connectivity revenue grows. The filing also shows SpaceX attempting to turn its compute infrastructure into an external business line. One of the largest disclosures involves Anthropic. The AI company agreed to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for access to compute infrastructure tied to xAI's data center operations. The arrangement amounts to roughly $15 billion annually. The deal demonstrates how scarce large-scale AI compute capacity has become. It also places SpaceX in an unusual position. The company is simultaneously training its own models while leasing infrastructure to rival frontier AI labs. SpaceX appears to be extending that strategy further into software and developer tooling. The filing details a collaboration agreement with Anysphere, the company behind Cursor. Under the arrangement, SpaceX will provide GPU compute capacity while gaining access to developer workflow data generated through coding prompts, software iteration cycles, and architecture decisions. The filing describes software development as a strategically important AI environment because it produces structured and verifiable feedback data useful for model training and inference optimization. SpaceX also secured an option to acquire Cursor after the IPO at a $60 billion valuation using SpaceX stock. If the agreement terminates under specified conditions, Cursor could receive up to $10 billion in combined termination and deferred services fees. The structure of the partnership reveals a broader commercial objective. SpaceX is attempting to secure recurring inference demand while integrating its AI models directly into software workflows that continuously generate training data. That creates a tightly linked operating loop: compute infrastructure, software usage, developer interaction data, model refinement, and increased inference demand. The filing repeatedly emphasizes vertical integration as a central operating principle. SpaceX argues that owning compute infrastructure allows the company to train frontier AI models at lower cost and faster speed. Its Colossus and Colossus II facilities reportedly provide about 1 gigawatt of compute power combined. The company is already outlining the next phase. SpaceX disclosed plans to begin deploying orbital AI compute infrastructure as early as 2028. The filing describes long-term plans involving large satellite constellations supporting AI training and inference workloads in orbit. Regulatory approvals, orbital debris mitigation, spectrum coordination, and international licensing requirements are all identified as significant operational risks. Despite the scale of investment, Grok's commercial adoption remains relatively limited compared with spending levels. The filing says Grok AI features reached 117 million monthly active users by March 2026, compared with roughly 550 million combined monthly users across Grok and X. The revenue structure inside SpaceX now appears increasingly uneven. Starlink operates as the company's primary financial stabilizer while newer AI operations consume capital at extraordinary speed. At the same time, Starlink itself continues expanding far beyond consumer broadband. The network is now active across 166 countries and territories. Airlines including United Airlines, Lufthansa Group, Qatar Airways, and IAG are integrating Starlink connectivity into fleet operations. Cruise operators, commercial shipping fleets, enterprise customers, and military programs have also become major growth areas. Direct-to-cell partnerships may become another significant revenue stream. SpaceX has signed carrier agreements spanning 22 countries, covering an estimated 400 million people through satellite-enabled mobile connectivity services. Those expansion efforts matter because they broaden the revenue base supporting the company's infrastructure ambitions. The filing ultimately presents SpaceX as three businesses operating inside one corporate structure: a satellite internet provider, an AI infrastructure company, and a launch and aerospace operation. Right now, Starlink is the segment generating the cash flow that holds the system together.
Anthropic Valued At $1 Trillion Could Actually Be A Bargain
Anthropic is on the verge of becoming one of the most highly valued private enterprises ever. According to a recent report by the Financial Times, the company may aim for a valuation nearing $1 trillion in an upcoming fundraising round, even with a revenue run rate slightly exceeding $1 billion at the beginning of 2025. For a conventional software firm, such a valuation would seem unrealistic. Revenue in software is generally limited by employee numbers and corporate IT budgets, after all. Despite this, investors in Anthropic are wagering that it is not a conventional software firm, and they may very well be accurate. The actual opportunity significantly exceeds the estimated $1 trillion global software market. AI models are progressively taking over tasks once carried out by lawyers, analysts, engineers, consultants, and support personnel. Anthropic is vying for a stake in the multi-trillion-dollar global knowledge labor sector, and recent trends in enterprise adoption indicate it is establishing itself as a leading contender. Valuation discussions of this nature are emerging among leaders in frontier technology. What's Better: SpaceX At $2T Or Google At $5T?
Anthropic says other companies willing to collaborate amid Pentagon pressure
The AI safety firm, locked in an escalating standoff with the Department of Defense, claims commercial partners are lining up despite a federal stop-use order. Getting blacklisted by the Pentagon would typically be a death sentence for a tech company's government ambitions. Anthropic appears to be betting it's not. The Claude developer, currently facing a supply chain risk designation from the Department of Defense, says other companies are willing to work with it. The signal is clear: Anthropic believes its ethical red lines on military AI won't leave it commercially isolated, even as the most powerful buyer on Earth tries to squeeze it out. Here's the backstory. Anthropic has refused to permit unrestricted use of its AI technology for lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. In English: the company told the Pentagon there are things Claude simply won't be used for, no matter how large the contract. The Defense Department was, predictably, not thrilled. The standoff escalated sharply in late February 2026. The Pentagon issued a stop-use order on Anthropic's systems and slapped the company with a supply chain risk designation. Think of that designation as the government's version of a scarlet letter. It tells every federal agency and contractor that doing business with the flagged company carries risk, which in procurement-speak is basically a "stay away" sign. Anthropic didn't take it quietly. On March 9, 2026, the company filed a lawsuit claiming irreparable harm from the Pentagon's actions. It's seeking to overturn the supply chain risk designation entirely. The legal argument boils down to this: the government is punishing Anthropic not for poor performance or security failures, but for maintaining ethical guardrails that the company considers non-negotiable. This is not a normal vendor dispute. Claude is reportedly being utilized in classified settings, which means the technology is already embedded in sensitive defense workflows. Pulling it out isn't like switching office software. It creates disruption, transition costs, and potential gaps in capability. The claim that other commercial partners are willing to collaborate with Anthropic is strategically significant, not just a feel-good talking point. Look, when the Pentagon flags you as a supply chain risk, the downstream effects can be devastating. Defense contractors, systems integrators, and cloud providers all have to weigh whether partnering with you puts their own government relationships in jeopardy. The chilling effect is often worse than the direct action itself. So Anthropic publicly signaling that it has willing partners is a counter-narrative move. It's saying: the market hasn't abandoned us, even if the DoD has. Whether those partners are other AI companies, enterprise software firms, or international defense contractors remains to be seen. But the message is aimed at investors, potential customers, and probably a judge or two. There's also a deeper market dynamic at play. Anthropic has built its brand on AI safety. It's the company that talks about existential risk, publishes responsible scaling policies, and positions itself as the adult in the room. For a certain segment of the enterprise market, particularly in regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and legal services, that brand is a feature, not a bug. Companies operating in sectors where deploying AI recklessly could trigger regulatory backlash or reputational damage may actually prefer working with a vendor that has demonstrated it will say no to powerful clients. That's the bet Anthropic is making. This dispute sits at the fault line of one of the most consequential debates in AI policy: where should the limits be on military applications of foundation models? The Pentagon has been aggressively courting the commercial AI sector for years. The logic is straightforward. The best AI talent and the most capable models are being built in the private sector, not in government labs. If the DoD wants cutting-edge capabilities, it needs Silicon Valley to play ball. Google learned this lesson with Project Maven back in 2018, when employee protests forced the company to drop a Pentagon drone imagery contract. The difference now is that the models are far more capable, the military applications are far more consequential, and the government is far less patient with companies that set conditions. Anthropic's lawsuit could set a meaningful precedent. If the company successfully argues that a supply chain risk designation was used as retaliation for ethical restrictions rather than for legitimate security concerns, it could reshape how the government negotiates with AI vendors going forward. It would signal that companies can maintain usage policies without being effectively blacklisted. On the other hand, if Anthropic loses, the message to every AI company is equally clear: if you want government money, you accept government terms. Full stop. For investors watching the AI sector, this is a case study in the tension between commercial growth and values-based positioning. Anthropic has raised billions in funding on the promise that safety-first AI development is both the right thing to do and a viable business strategy. The Pentagon standoff is the first real stress test of that thesis at scale. Whether other companies actually follow through on collaboration, or whether the supply chain risk label quietly poisons the well, will tell us a lot about how much the market truly values AI safety when the stakes get real.
Will SpaceX's IPO fund life on Mars -- and a trillionaire?
SpaceX is launching history's biggest public listing, propelling Elon Musk's wealth into the stratosphere. DW explores whether the firm's out-of-this-world ambitions are truly cosmic or another black hole for investors. Elon Musk has a habit of turning science fiction into reality. From reusable rockets to autonomous electric vehicles and humanoid robots, the billionaire's ventures often achieve what was once thought impossible. With SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO), he's aiming for even bigger milestones. The company, which has stayed fiercely private for 24 years, is now preparing to go public. In an S1 filing to US regulators on Wednesday, which runs to hundreds of pages, SpaceX plans to raise roughly $75 billion (€64.5 billion) from new investors, which would value the company at up to $1.75 trillion. Not bad for a firm that is still loss-making and which Musk -- already the world's richest man -- will effectively still control. Musk wants SpaceX to do more than send astronauts into space. He plans to build the infrastructure to secure the future of human life beyond Earth. The ultimate goal, Musk has said, is to create self-sustaining cities on Mars that could be home to up to a million people. To achieve that, SpaceX plans to use Starship -- its giant reusable spacecraft -- to make the first uncrewed voyages by 2030. The one-way journey to the Red Planet covers about 140 million miles on average and takes roughly six to nine months. The initial missions will test landing systems and begin setting up basic infrastructure, with crewed voyages to follow a few years later. SpaceX also wants to use resources on celestial bodies much closer to Earth to support humanity's multi-planetary expansion. Musk believes that asteroids, which fly through space on shifting orbits, could one day be mined. Asteroids' near-zero gravity makes them far easier and cheaper to land on and extract materials from. However, large-scale asteroid mining of platinum, nickel, gold and ice (water) -- all vital for supporting life, building habitats and producing fuel on Mars -- won't be achieved until the 2040s or beyond, space industry analysts have predicted. A crucial first stepping stone, however, will be the Moon, which is only a three-day trip from Earth. SpaceX envisions habitats, factories and fuel depots could be built on the Moon -- a much cheaper option than launching tons of materials from Earth. Musk also believes space has an answer to one of the biggest problems facing artificial intelligence (AI) -- the enormous amount of power and cooling required for massive data centers to handle billions of user requests at once. Instead of building more of these power-hungry facilities on Earth, SpaceX has floated the idea of placing giant AI supercomputers in orbit on large arrays of satellites. These data centers could use unlimited sunlight for energy and the cold vacuum of space for free cooling, making large-scale AI training far cheaper and more efficient than on our home planet. If SpaceX's ambitions aren't crazy enough, the IPO's plans to elevate Musk -- already the world's richest person -- are truly out of this world. Musk currently owns an estimated 42% of SpaceX. At the targeted $1.75 trillion valuation, his stake alone would be worth roughly $735 billion. Combined with Musk's holdings in Tesla, xAI and other ventures, the IPO would likely push his total net worth past the $1 trillion mark, making him the first trillionaire in history. A special dual-class share structure gives Musk over 80% of the voting power despite owning a much smaller share of SpaceX equity. This setup effectively makes him unfireable as CEO, helping him to pursue long-term, high-risk projects without pressure from short-term investors or activist shareholders. Musk's ironclad control has drawn criticism before, most notably at Tesla, where shareholders sued over his massive pay packages and potential conflicts of interest, arguing the board lacks real independence. Similar concerns have arisen over his control of the social media platform X, where decisions like major layoffs and strategic shifts were made by him. The blockbuster listing will also create enormous wealth for early backers and executives. According to the Financial Times, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and CFO Bret Johnsen would see their shares exceed $1 billion in value. Longtime investor Antonio Gracias could be sitting on $70 billion or more, while PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek's stake would be worth around $5 billion. Wall Street is gearing up for what could be the largest IPO in history, with Goldman Sachs acting as the lead underwriter. If SpaceX does secure an additional $75 billion in funding, it would be nearly triple Saudi Aramco's previous record of approximately $29.4 billion in 2019. Before that, Alibaba's US listing was the largest share offering, raising $22 billion in 2014. A $1.75 trillion valuation would place SpaceX in the Top 10 of the world's largest public companies, alongside NVIDIA, Apple, Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft. This would mark a huge leap of faith by investors as SpaceX remains deeply unprofitable, reporting a $4.94 billion net loss in 2025 due to heavy investments in Starship, satellite deployment and AI resources. Due to the enormous hazards of operating extraterrestrially, along with fast-advancing AI, the IPO filing lays out the very real dangers SpaceX faces. These include "a unique range of space-related risks," including "radiation from solar and cosmic sources; micrometeoroids and orbital debris," and "human injury or death." Wednesday's filing also warns: "We have a history of net losses and may not achieve profitability in the future." The sky-high valuation has some analysts wondering whether SpaceX's ambitions are more pie-in-the-sky than rocket science -- a debate that will only intensify once trading begins on the Nasdaq next month.
Discord: End-to-End Encryption Feature Arrives, Messages Now More Secure
Discord's default end-to-end encryption is here, and it changes how you should think about privacy on every call Imagine a world where your voice chats, video meetings, and private conversations on Discord stay sealed from prying eyes. That world is now real: end-to-end encryption (E2EE) comes enabled by default for all voice and video calls beyond private channels. This isn't just a tweak; it's a shift in how the platform protects data, hands control back to you, and raises practical questions for users and administrators alike. End-to-end encryptionensures that only the communicating parties can read the content. Data is encrypted on the sender's device and decrypted on the recipient's device, with servers and service providers unable to access plaintext content. By making E2EE the default, Discord removes the friction of manual toggles, reduces misconfiguration risks, and broadens protection to a wider user base -- 500+ million monthly users rely on this security layer. For sensitive calls -- legal consultations, healthcare discussions, or confidential business conversations -- default E2EE dramatically lowers exposure to data leaks and third-party interference. Discord's approach is automaticoath built-in. When a call starts, the platform performs server-assisted key exchangebehind the scenes and establishes a session keyfor media This process happens without requiring users to manage keys or enable settings. The encryption happens at the client level, ensuring that even Discord's servers cannot decrypt the media stream. This design minimizes risk from server-side breaches and limits exposure to external actors. Crucially, the server never sees unencrypted media, preserving confidentiality across the entire communication channel. This is the core of why E2EE is so trusted for private conversations and high-stakes collaboration. Even robust E2EEhas constraints. In Discord, some private channelsmay employ alternative security models for moderation and logging, which can affect encryption coverage. When E2EE is active, server-side voice analysis, automated moderation, or archival services may be restricted, potentially limiting specific governance tools. Keeping apps up-to-date and ensuring devices are free from malware remain critical, because a compromised endpoint can bypass even strong encryption by plain exposing text before encryption or after decryption. Regional access blocks can complicate connectivity, but once users reach the platform, E2EE protects conversations from external intrusion. For legal requests, authorities typically access metadata (who called whom, duration, timestamps) rather than content, making the content harder to disclose. In practice, this strengthens personal privacy in sensitive discussions and aligns with privacy-forward policies in many jurisdictions. While E2EE offers strong privacy, certain scenarios require extra privacy controls. If participants' devices appear compromised or if legal obligations mandate server-side logging, deploy complementary safeguards like strict access controls, least-privilege policies, and documented data handling procedures. Sectors with high regulatory burdens -- finance, healthcare -- should integrate E2EE with enterprise-grade governance, activity logging metadata, and approved retention schedules to maintain compliance while preserving confidentiality. Pro type:regular security audits, endpoint protection checks, and user education about phishing and credential hygiene amplify the benefit of default E2EE and reduce risk from human error.
