Elon Musk backs SpaceX-Tesla merger as rocket firm turns profit

Elon Musk has expressed support for a merger between his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, despite the complexities involved. The rocket and artificial intelligence firm revealed its first quarterly profit since going public, with a net income of $4.4 billion during the July-September period. This significant turnaround was primarily due to increased revenue from AI firms renting computing power, which surged to $7.6 billion - surpassing the Starlink satellite internet business.

Musk mentioned the establishment of special committees of independent directors in both companies to explore this potential merger at the request of shareholders. However, he clarified that he cannot participate in these discussions due to a conflict of interest. These committees have not yet agreed on the terms of any possible deal, but Musk cautioned against treating the merger as a certainty, stating that it would likely require a majority vote of all Tesla shares.

If the merger were to proceed, Musk suggested that the combined companies could benefit from collaboration in AI software, chip design, robotics, and space-based computing. SpaceX's AI division, known as Super Intelligence, played a crucial role in driving the company's financial recovery with a nine-fold increase in revenue to $7.6 billion.

This division has attracted notable customers like Anthropic and Google, which has committed to paying $920 million monthly for computing power. Despite heavy spending on AI investments, SpaceX's computing capacity has expanded to 1.7 gigawatts, with plans to add another 10 gigawatts by 2027.

The Starlink satellite internet unit experienced a 69% revenue increase to $5.2 billion, but average monthly revenue per consumer decreased due to growth in the subscriber base to 13.6 million. SpaceX also successfully completed its first revenue-generating flight of Starship, a key component in its Mars colonization efforts and satellite deployment plans.