SpaceX IPO Filing Shows Just How Much Elon Musk Is Losing On Artificial Intelligence

SpaceX’s IPO filing, released May 20, highlights the company’s heavy losses in artificial intelligence, with its AI division—formed after Elon Musk’s February acquisition of xAI—accounting for $2.47 billion in losses on $818 million in revenue during the first quarter. The filing underscores SpaceX’s reliance on speculative future markets, including Mars missions and solar-powered space data centers, to drive revenue, targeting a potential $28.5 trillion market. Only Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet division, reported profitability, with an operating profit of $1.19 billion, though the company still posted a total operating loss of $1.94 billion on $4.69 billion in revenue. The AI division’s spending consumed 76% of SpaceX’s $10.1 billion in first-quarter capital expenditures, deepening financial strain. Despite this, the filing projects a record-breaking $1.75 trillion valuation, positioning SpaceX for a potential June IPO and making Musk the first trillionaire if successful. The filing confirms Musk’s near-total control over SpaceX, retaining 85.1% of voting power, while tying his compensation to ambitious goals like establishing a Mars colony and building space data centers with 100 terawatts of compute capacity. Analysts note a ‘halo effect’ around Musk’s brand, complicating valuation amid untested business models and no comparable peers. SpaceX’s regulatory disclosure coincides with preparations for a Thursday test flight of its next-generation Starship rocket. The company plans to begin its roadshow June 4, with shares potentially listed as early as June 12, pending regulatory approval. The IPO would cement SpaceX’s status as one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies, despite relying on unproven technologies for long-term growth.