Friday 30 January 2026 13:38 EST Bookmark Support Now From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Two of Elon Musk’s companies are reportedly exploring a potential merger, which could see his rocket company SpaceX tie-up with his AI startup xAI. The deal is being discussed ahead of a planned public offering in June, according to two regulatory filings seen by Reuters. The combined entity would unite SpaceX’s reusable rockets, Starlink internet satellites, the X platform and the AI chatbot Grok. It could also see Musk achieve his ambition of building space-based AI data centres, which he claims will be possible in two to three years. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Musk said that space-based AI would be more vastly more efficient than terrestrial setups. “When you have solar in space you get five times more effectiveness, maybe even more than that, than solar on the ground,” he said. “It’s always sunny, so you don’t have a day-night cycle or seasonality or weather and you get about 30 per cent more power in space because you don’t have atmospheric attenuation of the power. The net effect is any given solar panel will do five times more energy in space than on the ground.” Building data centers in space is a risky proposition considering AI is evolving rapidly and unpredictably. Analysts and executives have questioned whether envisioned cuts in energy consumption are worth the cost of tailoring systems for space. As well as being the head of SpaceX and xAI, Musk, the world's richest person, also runs Tesla, tunnel company The Boring Co and neurotechnology firm Neuralink. SpaceX is also considering a merger with Musk's electric vehicle maker Tesla, Bloomberg reported. "I think it's highly likely that (xAI) ends up with one of the two parties," said Tesla shareholder Gene Munster, who is managing partner at xAI investor Deepwater Asset Management. "What's important for Elon is to have a massive vision that's way out there that he's early on.” Predictions hub Polymarket late on Thursday put the chance of a SpaceX-xAI merger by mid-year at 48 per cent and Tesla-xAI merger at 16 per cent. Musk, SpaceX, xAI and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Tesla's share price rose 3 per cent in after-hours trade. SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO) later this year will likely be the biggest in history, reaching a potential valuation above $1 trillion. Additional reporting from agencies.