Musk's SpaceX and xAI Merge to Form World's Most Valuable Private Company
Elon Musk's SpaceX acquired his artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, xAI, in a deal that valued the combined entity at over $1 trillion, making it the most valuable private company ever, according to Reuters. The merger aims to unify Musk's business interests, bringing AI, rockets, space-based internet, and media under one roof.
SpaceX confirmed the acquisition by posting a memo from Musk on its website. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a source familiar with the matter valued xAI at $125 billion and SpaceX at $1 trillion. In his memo, Musk stated that the combination would form an "innovation engine." xAI is known for its Grok chatbot.
In other news related to Musk's ventures, X's French offices were raided by the Paris prosecutor's cyber-crime unit as part of an investigation into suspected offenses, including unlawful data extraction and complicity in the possession of child pornography, according to BBC Technology. The prosecutor's office stated that both Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino had been summoned to appear at hearings in April. Musk responded to the raid on X, calling it a "political attack." The company said in a statement that it was cooperating with authorities.
Separately, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) announced a probe into Musk's AI tool, Grok, over its "potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content," according to BBC Technology.
Meanwhile, Pinterest recently sacked two engineers for tracking which workers lost their jobs in a recent round of layoffs, according to BBC Technology. The company recently announced job cuts, with chief executive Bill Ready stating in an email he was "doubling down on an AI-forward approach," according to an employee who posted some of the memo on LinkedIn. Pinterest told investors the move would impact about 15% of the workforce, or roughly 700 roles, without saying which teams or workers were affected. The engineers allegedly "wrote custom scripts improperly accessing confidential company information to identify the locations and names of all dismissed employees," according to BBC Technology.
In other business news, Netflix struggled to reassure sceptical lawmakers that its proposed $82 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery would benefit consumers, workers and the broader entertainment industry, according to BBC Technology. On Tuesday, members of the US Senate antitrust subcommittee, which includes both Democrats and Republicans, raised concerns about reduced competition, potential price rises and the future of cinemas if the merger goes ahead. The deal is currently under review by the Department of Justice (DoJ).
The US launched an effort to form a trade zone for critical minerals that are key to making everything from smartphones to weapons as it tries to break China's dominance of the industry, according to BBC Technology. On Wednesday, the State Department hosted the first Critical Minerals Ministerial event - which was attended by countries and organisations including the UK, European Union, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Delegates discussed the availability of and access to minerals crucial to the manufacture of things like computers.
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