Elon Musk-led SpaceX files publicly for stock listing amid AI ambitions

Elon Musk-led rocket and satellite company SpaceX on Wednesday filed for an initial public offering (IPO), paving the way for one of the most highly anticipated listings of the year.

The IPO would raise fresh funds for the Texas-based firm, which also oversees Musk's ambitions in the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry. The move would subject the privately held company to new scrutiny from public investors and regulators, as well as ongoing financial reporting requirements.

SpaceX is seeking a valuation of $1.75 trillion, which would make it the world's ninth-largest company as measured by market capitalization. Tesla, another Musk-led company, boasts a market cap of about $1.4 trillion, making it the 10th-largest company worldwide.

Founded in 2002, SpaceX builds and operates spacecraft, including thousands of satellites deployed in support of its Starlink satellite internet service.

In February, the Texas-based firm merged with xAI, a Musk-led artificial-intelligence company that offers a chatbot in competition with the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

SpaceX touted the merger as a key step in its plan to launch a fleet of "orbital data centers," satellites designed to deliver computing power, much like their terrestrial counterparts, according to the company's website.

The company described the project as a means of addressing the energy-intensity of AI infrastructure, which has strained the U.S. energy grid and drawn pushback from some local communities.

In December, Musk took to his social platform X to confirm a report from tech site Ars Technica detailing SpaceX's plans for an IPO in 2026 and its pursuit of a $1.75 trillion valuation. The move could allow SpaceX to raise tens of billions of dollars, helping the company fuel its AI ambitions, the report said.

The IPO filing comes days after a San Francisco federal court ruled against Musk in his case against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman.

Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, accused the company of abandoning its public-benefit mission as it moved toward a for-profit structure. Lawyers for Altman argued that Musk was motivated by a pursuit of control over OpenAI.

The nine-person advisory jury determined that the claims against OpenAI and Altman were barred due to the statute of limitations. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the determination and dismissed the claims.

In a post on X, Musk vowed to appeal the ruling, calling it a "calendar technicality."