Tech billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he merged his space company SpaceX with artificial intelligence (AI) developer xAI.
The combined companies plan to build data centres in space, Musk said in a blog post, adding that he expects this to become the cheapest way to generate AI computing power within two to three years.
In the short term, the deal will allow Musk to supply xAI with billions of dollars from SpaceX. The AI firm has high capital requirements.
SpaceX, and more recently the electric carmaker Tesla, which is also led by Musk, have each already invested $2 billion in xAI in financing rounds.
Both SpaceX and xAI are privately held companies, making a merger easier.
The SpaceX Starship rocket, which can carry large loads into orbit, is set to play a key role in the construction of data centres in space. In a blog post, Musk spoke of "launches every hour carrying 200 tons per flight."
"The sheer number of satellites that will be needed for space-based data centers will push Starship to even greater heights," he said.
According to Musk, such data centres will draw their power from solar energy - on Earth, nuclear power is currently being expanded again for this purpose in the US.
"Factories on the Moon can take advantage of lunar resources to manufacture satellites and deploy them further into space," Musk continued. In its corporate network, Tesla is developing humanoid robots that can also be used under adverse conditions.
Musk has also said for years that he wants to colonize Mars. Starship has only made test flights so far - not all of them successful.
xAI is developing the chatbot Grok, which Musk launched to compete with ChatGPT from rival OpenAI and others.
Grok has come under fire in recent weeks for allowing users to digitally replace women's clothing with bikinis and, in some cases, create sexualized depictions of minors. After prolonged international outrage, X introduced some restrictions in mid-January.
The online social media platform X, which Musk converted Twitter into after purchasing it, was also incorporated into xAI.
SpaceX has played a key role in the US space programme for years. Musk is currently said to hold a stake of around 40% in the two companies.
SpaceX is also said to be mulling an IPO that could value the company at up to $1.5 trillion.
