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Musk said he felt he was “tap dancing through a minefield” while discussing the proposal, but added that a merger “would be a good idea”.
SpaceX and Tesla logos. (Combo pics: Getty Images via AFP)
Elon Musk has signalled support for a possible merger between SpaceX and Tesla, saying a combination of the two companies could be beneficial, although no deal has been agreed.
Speaking during a call with analysts on Tuesday, Musk said he felt he was “tap dancing through a minefield” while discussing the proposal, but added that a merger “would be a good idea”.
“I think it would be a good idea, but it’s really up to the special committees of both companies,” he said.
Shares in SpaceX rose nearly 5 per cent in after-hours trading following his remarks.
Musk said independent director committees at both companies had been set up to examine the proposal at shareholders’ request. However, he stressed that the discussions had not produced any agreed terms and there was no guarantee of a deal.
Merger Faces Approval Hurdles
Musk said he could not participate in the discussions because of a conflict of interest. Any merger would also require the support of a majority of all Tesla shares, rather than just those voting — a requirement he called “quite a high hurdle”.
He said the companies could benefit from working together in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), chip design, robotics and space-based computing.
The comments came as SpaceX reported its first quarterly profit since going public. The company posted net income of $4.4 billion for the July-September quarter, compared with a loss of $1.1 billion a year earlier.
Revenue surged 161 per cent to $14.6 billion.
AI Business Drives SpaceX Growth
SpaceX’s AI division, which it calls Super Intelligence, led the growth, with revenue rising more than ninefold to $7.6 billion. The unit overtook Starlink, the company’s satellite internet business, as its largest source of revenue.
The company attributed the increase to new cloud computing contracts, wider use of its Grok chatbot and its acquisition of AI coding start-up Cursor.
SpaceX’s cloud customers include Anthropic and Google, which have agreed to pay for computing capacity at its data centres.
Meanwhile, Starlink revenue rose 69 per cent to $5.2 billion, with its consumer subscriber base reaching 13.6 million.
Despite the strong results, SpaceX continues to spend heavily on AI infrastructure, investing $19.6 billion during the quarter, including $16.4 billion in AI.
Musk said the company was expanding its computing capacity, although power supply, cooling and electrical equipment remained constraints.
(With inputs from AFP)
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Ask News18Elon Musk stated that a merger between SpaceX and Tesla would be a good idea, though he emphasized that no deal has been agreed upon and the decision is up to the special independent director committees of both companies. He noted that he could not participate in the discussions due to a conflict of interest.
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