Elon Musk has merged his two companies SpaceX and xAI. The decision makes the new entity the world’s most valuable unlisted company, valued at $1.25 trillion, according to an internal document seen by Bloomberg. The move is a prelude to the group’s planned initial public offering, expected by June, when Mars and Venus align, coinciding with Musk’s birthday.

“SpaceX has acquired xAI to form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI [artificial intelligence], rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform,” wrote Musk, who is by far the world’s richest person ($670 billion, according to Bloomberg, twice as much as runner-up Larry Page, co-founder of Google), in a statement published Monday, February 2, on the SpaceX website.

Musk’s goal, as he tries to catch up with AI leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Alphabet, is to run AI engines in space. “Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions, even in the near term, without imposing hardship on communities and the environment,” wrote the entrepreneur. “My estimate is that within two to three years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space.” The advantage of space, he argues, is that it offers uninterrupted solar energy with greater intensity than on Earth, in an environment close to absolute zero. SpaceX recently asked the Federal Communications Commission for authorization to launch up to “a million” satellites as part of its “orbital data center” project.

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