Friday, 12th June 2026.
How does a $1.75T space program valuation unexpectedly add a complex new layer to the future of Earth's ability to accommodate AI?
Something I didn't know - until quite recently - is that Elon Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI, alongside Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever. The group launched the so-called "non-profit" research lab in 2015, with Musk at the forefront of its early direction and fundraising.
As OpenAI grew, a moral discrepancy surrounding their non-profit commitment - and a power struggle over who would run it - caused Musk to depart the board in 2018, leaving Sam Altman to lead the company as CEO. Since then, Musk has developed and partnered with humanoid robotics companies to position Tesla as a robotics company beyond just electric vehicles.
We've also seen Musk found xAI in 2023, around the same time he purchased Twitter - now X. In a move that surprised few people paying attention, X was folded into xAI before the pair were then acquired by SpaceX in February 2026, valued at $1.25 trillion combined. The intent: to build orbital data centres and consolidate rockets, satellites, AI infrastructure and social platforms under one roof.
Now we land in the present. We have one of the richest people ever arriving at the greatest IPO in the history of the stock market - and it's becoming clear that the chess moves have been going on for over a decade.
What's the biggest anti-AI argument you hear each week? In my experience, it is the environmental impacts. "Do you even know how much water it takes to facilitate a prompt?", "Do you have any idea the energy and land these AI data centres consume?". I can't say I do, but I know that it isn't exactly eco-friendly.
My perspective on AI is shared by a significant amount of people: AI is the future and there is nothing you can do to stop it - you can either join in or get left behind. And the more I learn about the upcoming IPO, the more affirmed I am about my stance.
We all know that Earth's limited resources paired with humanity's ever-increasing population is an eventual problem. AI is not one of these resources, but land is. Musk has positioned himself perfectly to be at the forefront of this decision making. His companies own thousands of satellites that orbit the earth, humanoid robotics machinery and data centres that facilitate our AI usage.
The future seems so logical when these options are placed side-by-side. AI Data Centres in space solve a number of problems that society has manufactured for itself in the past 15 years. Infinite real estate, access to solar and sometimes-cooler temps (space isn't always cold in our solar system) solve a number of issues that we're currently limited to on Earth.
When paired with Musk's pledges to take humanity to MARS and give the world access to fast, reliable internet, the $1.75 trillion valuation of this IPO feels relatively fair.
I'm very interested to see what happens this week, specifically how the stock initially performs. Beyond this week, Musk's bet on AI's extra-terrestrial expanse is a brave one, but a necessary one.
AI is a part of our lives now; the steam engine, the internet, the mobile phone all similar predecessors. As we grow more reliant on it, Musk's strategic plays will pay off in the form of facilitation for society's ever growing needs.
Talk soon.