Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX Corp. today said it has acquired his artificial intelligence startup xAI Corp. ahead of what will likely be one of the largest initial public offerings in history later this year.

There may also be a more personal motive behind a SpaceX–xAI merger. Musk has had a contentious relationship with OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, for years. Musk co-founded OpenAI but later left the company in 2018, reportedly due to disagreements over the direction of what was then a nonprofit organization.

Musk is combining rocket maker SpaceX with his AI startup, the largest tie-up in his expansive business portfolio.

Whether or not this is the year that some of the biggest AI IPOs hit the public markets, there’s certainly a packed pipeline of private firms that could steadily go live at some point over the next two,

OpenAI overtook SpaceX as the world's most valuable private company in October. Now, a secondary share sale could catapult SpaceX back into the top spot — by a long shot. It's the latest turn in the long-running rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman.

Rocket company boosts valuation to $1tn and pays $250bn to acquire AI start-up as Musk envisions data centres in space

Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX is bolstering its efforts to go public amid a rush by companies to build AI data centers and put them in space.

SpaceX and OpenAI and their leaders, Elon Musk and Sam Altman, are among tech's biggest figures. Both could IPO in 2026.

To unpack what SpaceX’s IPO chatter means, how private liquidity works before a debut, and what investors are looking for in today’s pre-IPO giants, we spoke with Greg Martin, managing director at Rainmaker Securities,