SpaceX Acquires xAI To Pursue Space Data-Centers

On Feb. 11, 2026, Elon Musk announced SpaceX is acquiring xAI — owner of social platform X — in a deal valuing the merged companies at $1.25 trillion, above SpaceX's $800 billion and xAI's $230 billion valuations with IPO shares expected near $525. Musk frames the merger to enable deployment of up to one million solar-powered orbital "data center" satellites for AI compute, but experts note major technical, thermal, radiation and communications challenges and foresee long timelines.