SpaceX approached Tesla in recent weeks, with the companies weighing either a SpaceX takeover or an all stock merger under a new holding company. A tie up would also face national security and data sharing scrutiny from regulators in both the US and China, given SpaceX's role as a Pentagon contractor and Tesla's manufacturing footprint in China.
The push to combine the $2 trillion rocket maker and $1.5 trillion automaker centers on artificial intelligence, with SpaceX's data centers and satellite links serving as infrastructure for Tesla's robotaxis and Optimus robots. SpaceX's AI unit has become its largest business, generating $7.56 billion in third quarter revenue compared with $813 million a year earlier and accounting for more than $16.4 billion of its $19.6 billion in quarterly capital spending. Advisers to Musk have aimed to announce an agreement in the first half of 2027 to close the deal before the end of President Donald Trump's term.