SAN FRANCISCO – In a move that blends ambitious technological vision with a rapidly evolving corporate landscape, Elon Musk revealed plans to build an artificial intelligence satellite factory on the moon. The revelation came during an all-hands meeting with employees of xAI, his artificial intelligence company, on Tuesday evening, according to reports from The New York Times and Business Times.
Musk envisions a lunar facility dedicated to manufacturing AI satellites, which would then be launched into space using a “mass driver” – a giant catapult inspired by science fiction. He believes this undertaking will allow xAI to harness more computing power than its competitors, a crucial advantage in the increasingly competitive field of artificial intelligence. “You have to go to the moon,” Musk reportedly told employees, adding that “It’s difficult to imagine what an intelligence of that scale would think about, but it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see it happen.”
The announcement arrives at a complex moment for xAI. Last week, Musk announced a merger between xAI and his rocket business, SpaceX, to facilitate the creation of AI data centers in outer space. Now, that vision has expanded to include a full-scale manufacturing operation on the lunar surface. Details on how such a facility could be constructed were not discussed during the hour-long meeting, according to reports.
The timing of Musk’s lunar ambitions also coincides with a period of leadership changes at xAI. Yahoo Finance and TechBuzz reported that two co-founders, Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba, have recently departed the company. This brings the total number of departing founding members to six out of twelve. These departures come as SpaceX prepares for a potential initial public offering, which could value the company at $1.5 trillion as early as June.
Musk’s focus on the moon represents a recent shift in his long-term space exploration goals. For much of SpaceX’s 24-year history, Mars has been the primary target for colonization. However, just days before the recent announcement, Musk posted on social media that SpaceX had “shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon,” arguing that a lunar colony could be established in half the time required for a Mars settlement.
The feasibility of building a manufacturing facility on the moon raises significant logistical and legal questions. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits nations from claiming sovereignty over celestial bodies. However, a 2015 U.S. Law allows for the ownership of resources extracted from the moon, a legal nuance that could potentially underpin Musk’s plans. As Mary-Jane Rubenstein, a professor of science and technology studies at Wesleyan University, explained to TechCrunch last month, the distinction between owning the moon itself and owning resources extracted from It’s a complex one.
While the practical challenges are substantial, some observers believe Musk’s lunar ambitions are integral to his broader vision of creating the world’s most powerful AI. The idea, as described by one venture backer to TechCrunch, is to leverage data from various Musk-owned companies – Tesla, Neuralink, SpaceX, and The Boring Company – to train an AI on a scale unmatched by competitors. A lunar factory would add another layer of proprietary data, potentially giving xAI a decisive advantage.
Whether this ambitious vision will come to fruition remains to be seen. For now, the company is navigating a period of significant change, with key personnel departing and an IPO looming. Musk’s announcement of a lunar factory, while audacious, may be a strategic move to rally employees and investors around a long-term, transformative goal.
