Elon Musk has revealed that he is exploring a potential merger between Tesla SpaceX merger initiatives, bringing together artificial intelligence models, semiconductors, autonomous driving, robotics, and space data centers under a single corporate umbrella. The combined valuation of the two companies is estimated to reach approximately $3.5 trillion (around 4,631 trillion won).
Speaking during SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings conference call, Musk stated that the boards of directors of both companies have formed respective special committees to examine the feasibility of the merger. He highlighted significant synergies between the two entities, pointing to AI software, semiconductor design, robotics, and satellite-based data centers and communications as primary collaborative fields.
SpaceX previously merged with xAI, the developer of the AI chatbot Grok, back in February. With xAI having acquired the social media platform X last year, the addition of Tesla would create an interconnected ecosystem linking Grok and X data, SpaceX’s satellite and space infrastructure, and Tesla’s autonomous driving and humanoid robot operations.
A core area of cooperation centers on AI infrastructure. SpaceX is advancing ‘Starmind,’ a project aiming to deploy up to one million satellites powered by solar energy to run AI models in space. This initiative is designed to bypass earthly limitations regarding power and land availability by moving data centers into orbit, with satellite deployment scheduled to begin late next year and scale up significantly by 2028.
Additionally, the two companies are jointly constructing ‘TerraFab,’ a $16.8 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Texas. Semiconductors produced at this facility will supply Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots, the Cybercab robotaxi, and SpaceX’s space data centers.
However, the commercial viability of space-based data centers remains unproven. SpaceX noted in its initial public offering filings that space AI computation technology is still unverified and carries the risk of failing to achieve commercial success.
Currently, SpaceX is valued at approximately $2 trillion, while Tesla is valued around $1.5 trillion. Following Musk’s remarks regarding the merger, Tesla’s stock rose about 4%, and SpaceX surged nearly 10% during intraday trading.
Merger conditions have not yet been finalized. Approval requires the consent of a majority of all Tesla shareholders, and Musk’s post-merger governance control remains a key variable. Musk currently holds about a 20% stake in Tesla and exerts greater influence in SpaceX through dual-class shares. Barclays estimates that Musk could secure roughly 56% of the voting power in the combined company.
Potential regulatory reviews by the U.S. government are also anticipated. While SpaceX is a major contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and NASA, Tesla operates a massive production facility in Shanghai, China, which could raise national security concerns during the merger review process.
