SpaceX's xAI Satellite Plan, Deepfake Markets, and Cleantech Microbes Emerge

SpaceX acquired xAI, another company owned by Elon Musk, to create a vertically integrated innovation engine, the space company announced Monday. The acquisition aims to combine AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications, and a real-time information platform, according to SpaceX.

SpaceX stated that the merger of SpaceX and xAI is intended to "scale to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars!"

Meanwhile, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the Eagle Mine, the only active nickel mine in the US, is nearing the end of its operational life. The mine's owner began testing a new process earlier this year to extract more nickel from lower-quality ore, according to MIT Technology Review. Allonnia, a startup, developed a fermentation-derived broth that is mixed with concentrated ore to capture and remove impurities. Kent Sorenson, Allonnia’s chief technology officer, said this approach could help companies continue operating sites that have declining nickel concentrations.

In other AI news, many organizations rushed into generative AI, only to see pilots fail to deliver value, according to Mistral AI. Mistral AI partners with global industry leaders to co-design tailored AI solutions. Their methodology starts by identifying an iconic use case, the foundation for AI transformation that sets the blueprint for future AI solutions.

A study from researchers at Stanford and Indiana University found that a civilian online marketplace for buying and selling AI-generated content, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, is letting users buy custom instruction files for generating celebrity deepfakes. The researchers looked at peoples requests for content on the site, called bounties, and found that between mid-2023 and the end of 2024, a significant portion asked for animated content. Some of these files were specifically designed to make pornographic images banned by the site, according to the analysis.

Emerge Career, a Y Combinator-funded startup, is seeking a Founding Product Designer for their all-in-one re-entry workforce development training platform. Emerge Career's mission is to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration by recruiting, training, and placing justice-impacted individuals into life-changing careers.