SpaceX reportedly developing a proprietary AI device

The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX has shown investors a prototype of a handset-like artificial intelligence device. According to the report, the aerospace company presented the device to investors and stakeholders, noting that the prototype is at an early stage and its design could still change. However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk quickly denied the reporting, calling it “utterly false.”

The reported prototype is designed to run on a proprietary operating system—software owned by the company rather than a third party—and integrate technology from xAI, the AI company owned by Musk that SpaceX acquired earlier this year. This operating system would prevent the device from being trapped inside third-party platforms like Google’s Android. The effort enters a highly competitive but historically difficult market. The hardware sector is already littered with the unsuccessful launches of AI devices from startups like Humane and Rabbit. At the same time, established players are pushing forward with their own designs. OpenAI is currently collaborating with Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, on an AI device that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has discussed. While reports suggest OpenAI was struggling to get details right last autumn, the company has recently strengthened its hardware team. News dropped last week that Paul Meade, a former Apple vice president, has joined OpenAI to help advance its hardware efforts.

A move into hardware would leverage SpaceX’s existing industrial footprint. Alongside its sister company Tesla, SpaceX possesses the manufacturing expertise required to mass-produce physical devices, alongside access to the silicon necessary to power on-device compute—the processing of AI tasks locally on the hardware. Additionally, SpaceX has signaled an interest in expanding into the wireless market through Starlink Mobile, its wireless service initiative. This initiative could position SpaceX as a potential competitor to major telecommunications carriers such as Verizon and AT&T. One analyst has even speculated that carriers like T-Mobile or AT&T could serve as potential acquisition targets for the aerospace firm as it builds out its connectivity ecosystem.

Why it matters

SpaceX is reportedly developing a proprietary AI hardware device, potentially leveraging its manufacturing expertise and xAI technology, which would place it in competition with other AI hardware efforts like those from OpenAI and Apple.