Musk says SpaceX-Tesla merger a ‘good idea’ as AI revenue jumps ninefold

Elon Musk said he likes the idea of merging Tesla with SpaceX in a potential move that would create a roughly $3.5 trillion technology giant combining AI, space exploration and electric vehicle manufacturing. “Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes,” Musk said of the potential merger during a SpaceX Q3 earnings call on Tuesday.Musk said that both SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees of independent directors to discuss the idea at the request of shareholders, though he isn’t able to take part in the discussions due to being a conflicted party.A merger would bring Tesla into the same corporate group as Grok developer SpaceXAI (formerly xAI) and social media platform X, which SpaceX acquired in February. The talks also come as SpaceX’s AI business became its largest revenue segment in Q3, underscoring how central artificial intelligence has become to Musk’s expanding technology empire.“There’s a lot to be gained from cooperating on developing superintelligence software, chip design, the Terafab, obviously, robotics, mass to orbit with the Starmind constellation. Connectivity,” said Musk. However, Musk tempered expectations of whether a merger will ultimately come through.“...