SpaceX Acquired xAI in Trillion-Dollar Deal, Plans IPO
SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket company, acquired xAI, the artificial intelligence firm also founded by Musk, in a deal valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion, Fortune reported on Monday. The acquisition sets the stage for a planned initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Musk, who serves as CEO of both SpaceX and xAI, as well as Tesla, described the merger as creating "the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth," according to a blog post on SpaceX's website. The integrated company will combine AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile-device communications, and a real-time information and free speech platform.
The move comes as OpenAI launched a new desktop application for its Codex AI coding system for macOS, VentureBeat reported. The Codex app functions as a "command center for agents," allowing developers to delegate multiple coding tasks simultaneously, automate repetitive work, and supervise AI systems that can run independently for up to 30 minutes before returning completed code, according to OpenAI executives. Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, told VentureBeat that it was the "most loved internal product we've ever had."
However, the effectiveness of AI in software development remains under scrutiny. According to Hacker News, teams using AI completed 21% more tasks, yet company-wide delivery metrics showed no improvement, according to a 2025 Index.dev report. Experienced developers were also found to be 19% slower when using AI coding assistants, despite believing they were faster, according to a 2025 METR study. Furthermore, 48% of AI-generated code contains security vulnerabilities, according to a 2024 Apiiro report. The report cited that a developer's job is to reduce ambiguity, outlining logic precisely so a machine can execute, and that the act of writing the code is the easy part.
Meanwhile, in the consumer tech space, The Verge reported on deals for Apple's smartwatches. The Apple Watch Series 11 and SE 3 are receiving the biggest discounts, but savings are also available on the higher-end Apple Watch Ultra 3. The Apple Watch SE 3 is on sale starting at $219 ($30 off) for a limited time.
In other AI news, MIT Technology Review reported on a civilian online marketplace, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, that allows users to buy custom instruction files for generating celebrity deepfakes. A study from researchers at Stanford and Indiana University found that between mid-2023 and the end of 2024, a significant portion of requests on the site were for content designed to make pornographic images banned by the site.
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