[Young journalist Oh Sihyun] Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the artificial intelligence company xAI are reported to have entered the final-stage of negotiations for a merger. If completed, the deal would create a large-scale technology company that combines the space industry and AI, raising the possibility that Musk’s vision of a space-based data center could begin in earnest.

SpaceX and xAI are both conducting what have been described as “advanced talks” about a merger of the two companies, and have also informed some investors of the plan, Bloomberg reported on the 2nd (local time).

The merger could be announced as early as this week, though there is a possibility of it being delayed or falling through depending on the outcome of discussions.

Musk, who serves as CEO of both companies, appeared to acknowledge the merger rumors through a post on the social networking service X (a.k.a. Twitter).

After Aaron Burnett, CEO of aerospace investment firm Mach33, cited Bloomberg’s report and posted a message placing a handshake emoji between SpaceX’s mission, “explore the universe,” and xAI’s mission, “understand the universe,” Musk replied briefly, “Yes.”

This was interpreted as indirectly admitting the merger discussions while expressing expectations that the combination of the two companies would generate synergistic effects.

Previously, there had been an observation that SpaceX might merge with either xAI or Tesla, the electric vehicle company also led by Musk.

However, a merger with privately held xAI is expected to be procedurally simpler than one with publicly traded Tesla.

If SpaceX and xAI become a single entity, it could provide an opportunity for Musk’s push to develop a space data center business.

SpaceX recently applied to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for approval to launch up to one million satellites as part of its space data center plan.

At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, last month, Musk mentioned that building solar-powered data centers in space would be the most efficient approach, predicting that the vision could become reality within two to three years.

SpaceX is currently valued at $800 billion, and its market capitalization is projected to exceed $1 trillion (about 1,450 trillion won) after an IPO. As of November last year, xAI was valued at $230 billion (about 330 trillion won).

▶원문 기사: 머스크, 스페이스X–xAI 합병 초읽기…‘우주+AI’ 슈퍼기업 나오나

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