Elon Musk has revived speculation regarding a potential merger between the companies Tesla and SpaceX. During the presentation of the automaker's financial results, the businessman chose not to dismiss this hypothesis.
As reported by Reuters, the executive mentioned that cooperation between both organizations has intensified, emphasizing that any agreement of this magnitude must respect established corporate procedures.
The idea of uniting Tesla and SpaceX into a single entity has circulated among investors for several years. This topic gained new prominence during the space company's Initial Public Offering (IPO), which was valued at US$ 75 billion (approximately R$ 378.75 billion).
When questioned about the matter at the Tesla earnings conference, Musk avoided confirming any future plans. However, he made it clear that the two companies are progressively closer. Due to numerous collaborations in different areas with SpaceX, there is an increasing overlap of activities between them.
In his response, he emphasized that an earnings call is not the appropriate forum to discuss a possible combination of companies. He added: 'We cannot talk about merging companies and this type of issue during an earnings conference. This needs to be done following the proper process.'
Following Musk's statement, Brandon Ehrhart, Tesla's legal director, merely stated that SpaceX is a 'great partner' and that the relationship between the companies results in multiple advantageous transactions.
The partnership between Tesla and SpaceX is not recent. The automaker supplies components such as batteries and manufacturing technologies that are used in certain projects of the space company.
Both companies are also developing Terafab, a semiconductor manufacturing unit dedicated to producing chips intended for artificial intelligence. This project illustrates the strengthening of collaboration between Musk's businesses.
Existing areas of collaboration include: supplying batteries for SpaceX projects; sharing manufacturing technologies; jointly developing the Terafab factory; and initiatives related to the production of chips for artificial intelligence.
Proponents of the proposal argue that unification could simplify Musk's business conglomerate, grouping sectors such as robotics, energy, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and space infrastructure under one structure.
The businessman's statements generated rapid reaction in the market. Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, stated that he began to see an even higher probability of the operation occurring in the coming years. In a video released on social media, he declared: 'Today I would say there is a 90% chance these two companies will merge. If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said 80%.'
JPMorgan analysts indicate that operational integration between Tesla and SpaceX is already quite deep, citing the sharing of engineers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, the Terafab project, and Musk's leadership. Meanwhile, Stifel points out that many investors consider this union inevitable, believing the question is no longer whether it will happen, but when.
Despite the optimism of some in the market, a merger still faces significant obstacles. Reuters points out that regulatory approvals, particularly in China, could constitute an impediment due to SpaceX's ties to the United States government.
Another point of attention lies in the shareholding structure. Musk holds a substantially larger voting stake in SpaceX compared to Tesla, which could complicate negotiations for the automaker's shareholders. To date, there has been no official announcement, but the businessman's remarks have reignited a debate that has accompanied the two companies for years.
Elon Musk completed the acquisition of APR Energy, a gas turbine manufacturer, earlier this year, incorporating a fossil fuel-related operation into his business portfolio.
The completion of this purchase occurred in May, without any public disclosure from Musk or APR itself. It was the outlet Electrek that identified the registration with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) only on Wednesday, the 14th, estimating the deal's value at approximately US$ 1 billion, which is equivalent to R$ 5 billion.
APR Energy produces mobile turbines that run on gas and diesel and can be mounted on trailers. The most likely application for this fleet of equipment is providing direct power to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, including the energy demand generated by content creation using Grok, the AI system developed by xAI.
APR's mobile fleet has characteristics similar to the turbines that xAI already uses in a data center located in Southaven, Mississippi, in the US. The use of these turbines at that location resulted in a lawsuit alleging a violation of the Clean Air Act, which is the U.S. federal legislation on air pollution control. Since the action was initiated, there has been a considerable increase in the number of mobile turbines present at the site.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the dismissal of this case with the aim of allowing the state military to continue using Grok in its military activities.
This investment in gas and diesel signals a change in stance compared to previous statements by Musk a decade ago, when he classified the continued use of fossil fuels as 'the stupidest experiment in history, by far.' In addition to the APR acquisition, there is information that SpaceX plans to build a natural gas pipeline in Texas, US.
