Musk Pitches Moon Factory and Space Catapult to Power xAI’s Future
During an all-hands meeting on Tuesday, Musk described a lunar facility that could produce satellites to provide computing power for advanced AI systems.
Elon Musk has outlined an expansive vision for his artificial intelligence company xAI, telling employees the firm may one day build a factory on the moon to manufacture AI satellites and launch them into space using a massive catapult-like system.
During an all-hands meeting earlier this week, Musk described a lunar facility that could produce satellites to provide computing power for advanced AI systems. “You have to go to the moon,” Musk said, adding that such a move could help xAI secure more computing capacity than rivals.
The proposed space catapult, inspired by science fiction, would be a “mass driver” used to launch satellites from the moon. “It’s difficult to imagine what an intelligence of that scale would think about, but it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see it happen,” he said.
The remarks come as Musk moves to merge xAI more closely with SpaceX, a step he said would support plans for AI data centers in space. SpaceX is also preparing for a potential initial public offering that could come as early as June.
Musk described the moon as a steppingstone toward broader ambitions in space exploration. He told employees the long-term goal included building “a self-sustaining city on the moon,” followed by missions to Mars and eventually deeper space exploration.
He also addressed developments at X, the social media platform merged with xAI last year, saying it has about 600 million monthly active users. “We’ll obviously give people reasons, compelling reasons, to use the app every day and have, my expectation is, well over a billion daily active users,” Musk said.
“If you’re moving faster than anyone else in any given technology arena, you will be the leader, and xAI is moving faster than any other company — no one’s even close,” he said.
