Elon Musk’s space and AI firm secured first-time ratings from Moody’s, Fitch and S&P Global on Thursday, a milestone that places its debt firmly in investment-grade territory and could allow it to borrow more cheaply as it funds a vast expansion.
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The endorsements arrive less than a week after the company’s record IPO, which raised around $85.7 billion (€73.8bn) in the largest initial public offering in history.
Moody’s assigned SpaceX a Baa1 long-term issuer rating with a stable outlook. In its report, the agency pointed to the firm’s “exceptional franchise strength” as the world’s leading orbital launch provider and operator of Starlink, the largest low Earth orbit satellite broadband network.
The rating is also slightly higher than Tesla’s Baa3. Reacting to the news in a reply on social media, Elon Musk wrote: “Tesla’s credit rating is ridiculously low to be honest.”
According to Moody’s, Starlink has become SpaceX’s primary cash flow generator, underpinning improving scale, wider margins and a gradual shift away from more cyclical launch revenue.
Moody’s also set out the risks. It said the rating was constrained by the heavy execution and financial demands of SpaceX’s large-scale AI buildout, marked by high capital intensity, sustained negative free cash flow and an uncertain range of returns.
The agency highlighted the company’s dependence on the next-generation Starship V3 vehicle, warning that technical setbacks or delays could pressure long-term growth.
It further pointed to elevated governance risks tied to SpaceX’s controlled structure and concentrated voting power, which it said limit independent board oversight and leave the firm heavily reliant on a single individual, Elon Musk.
However, Moody’s still projects strong revenue and earnings growth through 2028, driven chiefly by Starlink, which counted 12 million subscribers as of early June, alongside an expected turning point in the AI division.
The agency cited recent third-party compute deals with Anthropic and Google worth a combined $75 billion (€65bn) as evidence of that potential.
As for the other credit agencies, Fitch issued a BBB+ long-term issuer default rating, also with a stable outlook, citing the company’s commanding lead in commercial launch, where it has delivered more than 80% of global mass to orbit since 2023.
Meanwhile, S&P Global assigned a BBB rating with a stable outlook, weighing the strength of the launch and connectivity businesses against the risks of the nascent AI segment and the company’s substantial capital needs.
Shares slide from their peak
The ratings did little to steady the stock on Thursday.
SpaceX closed at $185, down more than 18% from the high of $225.6 it reached on Tuesday, when its valuation briefly topped $3 trillion (€2.6tn).
The shares fell as low as $172 during the session before paring losses, as investors weighed whether the company’s lofty valuation had run too far.
The retreat has reshuffled SpaceX’s standing among the world’s corporate giants. The company now ranks once again as the sixth most valuable listed firm by market capitalisation, having given back some of the ground it gained earlier in the week.
On Tuesday, it had overtaken Amazon to claim fifth place, and at its intraday peak, it briefly leapfrogged Microsoft into fourth before this week’s slide pushed it back down.
Even after surrendering some of those gains, SpaceX sits among the most valuable companies on the planet just a week into its life as a public firm, and the investment-grade verdict from all three major agencies marks a notable shift in how financial markets judge a business that spent years operating as a privately funded rocket maker.
Elon Musk’s space and AI conglomerate ended its third day of public trading worth roughly $2.65 trillion (€2.28tn), having displaced Amazon in the global market-capitalisation rankings.
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The stock settled at $201.8 per share, in a debut week that has rewritten the upper reaches of the world’s equity leaderboard at remarkable speed.
The milestone caps an already extraordinary stretch for the company, which listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX only last Friday.
SpaceX priced 555.6 million Class A shares at $135 each, raising around $75 billion (€65bn) in what was the largest initial public offering in history, comfortably eclipsing the $29.4 billion (€25.3bn) that Saudi Aramco raised in 2019.
The company also increased the total capital raised to $85.7 billion (€73.8bn) after underwriters exercised the “greenshoe” option to purchase additional shares on Monday due to exceptional demand.
At Tuesday’s close, the stock was trading more than 50% above its IPO price.
During the trading session, share prices climbed as high as $225.6, briefly pushing SpaceX’s valuation above $3 trillion (€2.58tn) and, for a moment, ahead of Microsoft as the world’s fourth most valuable company.
The stock later pared those gains, closing below that threshold, but the intraday spike underscored the intensity of investor appetite for the listing.
Based on Tuesday’s closing prices, only Nvidia ($5tr), Alphabet ($4.5tr), Apple ($4.4tr) and Microsoft ($2.9tr) had larger market capitalisations than SpaceX. Eight of the world’s ten most valuable listed companies are tied to the technology and AI sector, a concentration that has defined markets throughout 2026.
The Cursor deal fuels the surge
Tuesday’s advance coincided with a significant strategic move.
Before the opening bell, SpaceX announced an all-stock agreement to acquire Anysphere, the developer behind the AI coding assistant Cursor, in a deal valuing the startup at $60 billion (€51.7bn).
According to a regulatory filing, a SpaceX subsidiary will merge into Anysphere, leaving Cursor as a wholly owned arm of the group, with completion expected in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approval.
The purchase deepens SpaceX’s push into enterprise AI, a market where rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic have gained early commercial traction, and it follows the company’s merger with Musk’s xAI venture in February.
The acquisition stems from an option SpaceX secured in April, under which it agreed either to acquire Cursor for $60 billion (€51.7bn) later this year or pay $10 billion (€8.6bn) for a more limited partnership to access its computing technology.
However, despite all the positive news, the speed of the climb has drawn caution.
Sceptics argue that SpaceX remains overvalued, given that it has yet to turn a profit and only 3% to 4% of its total equity is publicly traded.
A fast-track route into major stock indices, which compels passive funds to buy the shares, is expected to further amplify demand for the limited supply of shares in the opening days of trading.
This article does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research and invest according to your specific circumstances.
SpaceX is pushing deeper into AI with its largest acquisition yet, striking a $60 billion (€51.7bn) all-stock agreement to buy Anysphere, the developer of the AI coding assistant Cursor.
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The purchase, announced on Tuesday, is intended to strengthen SpaceX’s position in the enterprise AI market, where rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic have found early commercial traction.
Anysphere is a San Francisco startup that uses AI to automate large parts of software development, and its Cursor tool is widely used by programmers.
According to a regulatory filing, the two sides signed a merger agreement under which a SpaceX subsidiary, X67 Inc., will merge into Anysphere, leaving Cursor as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The merger is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
The deal lands barely a week after Elon Musk’s company completed a blockbuster listing, and marks an aggressive move beyond rockets and satellites into enterprise AI software.
At the time of writing, SpaceX shares were trading a few cents below $200 in premarket trading, up more than 4% from Monday’s close and roughly 50% higher than its IPO price of $135.
Tuesday’s rally could see SpaceX overtake Amazon by market capitalisation if gains hold through the session.
The acquisition follows an option SpaceX secured in April, when it agreed to either acquire Cursor for $60 billion (€51.7bn) later in the year or pay $10 billion (€8.6bn) for a narrower partnership to provide compute.
Founded in 2022, Cursor has grown quickly, reporting roughly $2.6 billion (€2.2bn) in annualised business-to-business revenue, according to company data shared with Reuters this month.
The firm had previously raised more than $3 billion (€2.5bn) from backers including Nvidia and OpenAI.
SpaceX merged with Musk’s chatbot venture xAI in February, and this new deal could hand xAI a stronger position in AI-assisted coding, an area where it has trailed competitors, while giving Cursor access to far greater computing power.
Wall Street’s most famous market label may be outdated.
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The ‘Magnificent 7’ or ‘Mag 7’ defined the first phase of the AI rally, as it included Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla, but a fresh grouping is now circulating among investors keen to capture its next leg.
In the wake of SpaceX’s blockbuster listing, analysts are looking to add Elon Musk’s company, as well as OpenAI and Anthropic, which are expected to IPO later this year, to a new market label.
Coined by the British financial firm Vanda Research, the ‘FAB 10’ stands for Frontier AI & Big Tech 10, and takes the original seven companies from ‘Mag 7’ together with the three new market darlings.
According to Vanda, last Friday’s SpaceX IPO offered the clearest signal yet that attention is widening beyond the ‘Magnificent 7’.
After Monday’s close above $192 per share, Elon Musk’s space and AI firm is now the sixth most valuable company in the world by market capitalisation.
What the new label captures
The term ‘Magnificent 7’ was coined in late 2023 by Michael Hartnett, who wanted a single term for the megacap stocks powering the market to records.
Their combined value now sits at roughly $22.6 trillion (€19.5tn), with Nvidia alone worth more than $5 trillion (€4.33tn) as the most valuable company in the world by market capitalisation.
The three newcomers represent a different flavour of the same AI boom.
SpaceX brings aerospace and satellite connectivity through its Starlink unit, while OpenAI and Anthropic are among the leading developers of frontier AI models.
According to Vanda, the ten companies collectively map the direction of the AI and technology sectors over the coming decade.
However, a wrinkle in the label is that two of the additions are not yet listed.
OpenAI and Anthropic remain private, though both have filed to approach public markets this year, potentially at valuations surpassing $1 trillion (€861bn) and making the ‘FAB 10’ as much a shorthand as a tradable basket.
The ‘FAB 10’ is also not the only contender.
Bank of America has floated an ‘AI Big 10’ that instead adds the chipmakers Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Micron, reflecting the semiconductor rally.
Others have suggested smaller clusters, such as the rival ‘MANGOS’ label, which has surfaced and includes Meta, Anthropic, Nvidia, Google (Alphabet), OpenAI and SpaceX.
Strategists caution that none of the names signals the demise of the ‘Magnificent 7’, which still accounts for roughly a third of the S&P 500 index. Investors are not abandoning the originals but simply broadening the definition of who leads the AI era.
As Vanda frames it, the next decade’s winners may simply need a bigger tent.
June 12 (UPI) —SpaceX began trading Friday at $150 and has gone as high as $176 as SPCX in its initial public offering, the largest one in history.
Elon Musk and SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell rang the opening bell Friday. Musk was in Texas and Shotwell was at the Nasdaq in New York City.
After trading opened, the stock topped $160, sending the company to more than a $2 trillion market cap. By early afternoon, the stock was at $176.52.
“I love the incredible people of SpaceX beyond words,” Musk wrote Friday afternoon on X.
The company had traded more than 360 million shares as of 2 p.m. EDT Friday. It has more than 172 million shares on the Nasdaq alone, CNBC reported. Polymarket bettors believe, at 70%, that SpaceX will close at more than $2 trillion Friday. Five other U.S. companies have reached the $2 trillion market cap: Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.
Already a trillionaire, Musk is about to be CEO of two of the Top 10 most valuable publicly traded companies at the same time.
Musk said before the IPO that SpaceX had been cash-flow positive since around 2015, CNBC reported. He said he chose to take the company public now to raise capital for “a significant growth phase.” Some plans for that growth include putting more than 100,000 satellites in orbit for communications and building artificial intelligence data centers in space.
“Having a private company was important to us early on because we weren’t really focused on quarterly financials, we were so focused on the long-term outlook for the company,” Shotwell told CNBC in an interview.
Shotwell said interest from investors also helped drive the decision.
“We’ve been feeling, over the last few years, a lot of pressure from everyday Americans and our friends that wanted to buy stock, and there was just no way for these folks to get in,” Shotwell said.
According to its prospectus, SpaceX has had a total loss of $41.3 billion since it was founded in 2002. Originally founded as a maker of reusable rockets, the only profitable part of the business has been the Starlink satellite Internet service.
In February, SpaceX acquired Musk’s startup xAI, which has been embattled this year for its ability to undress people in AI-generated images. Several countries and people have sued the company to force it to not allow the bot to do so against the victims’ will.
Citadel Securities, which helps execute trade orders, processed more retail activity for SpaceX than any other IPO auction on record, CNN reported the company said. Retail investors are regular people trading stocks instead of professionals.
The moment that Wall Street had anticipated all year arrived on Friday as SpaceX, the AI and aerospace company controlled by Elon Musk, began trading publicly on the Nasdaq in the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the history of financial markets.
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In a speech before the New York session opened for trading, Musk stated that SpaceX’s goal is to “take the fiction out of science fiction.”
SPCX opened at $150, over 10% above its $135 IPO price, and it was already at more than $160 after the first few minutes of live trading.
The company confirmed on Thursday that it had priced 555.6 million Class A shares at $135 each, valuing the firm at roughly $1.78 trillion (€1.54trn) and targeting a raise of $75 billion (€64.5bn) that instantly eclipsed Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion (€25.4bn) listing, which had stood as the global record for almost seven years.
Only around 3% to 4% of SpaceX shares are currently available for public trading.
The company earmarked as much as 30% of its offering for retail investors, including 10% dedicated to European buyers, but the final amount was set at 20%. As for options contracts on SPCX, they are scheduled to begin trading next week.
The IPO has also brought Elon Musk closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
Forbes valued his pre-IPO SpaceX stake, estimated at around 42% of the company, at about $500bn (€435bn). At the IPO valuation, those holdings are worth roughly $690bn (€600bn), adding nearly $190bn (€165bn) to his fortune and pushing his net worth closer to the $1tn (€870bn) milestone.
Along with Musk, thousands of SpaceX employees are benefitting from the IPO and becoming millionaires.
The listing will give millions of savers indirect exposure to SpaceX as the company is expected to qualify for major stock market indexes shortly after its debut, meaning its shares could be automatically purchased by index-tracking funds.
SpaceX is estimated to be fast-tracked into the Nasdaq-100 in less than a month, as opposed to a typical wait of as much as a year.
Nasdaq’s new fast-entry rule, introduced in May, now sees it evaluating newly listed stocks for potential entry by ranking their market capitalisation on the seventh trading day and assessing whether they would rank within the top 40 index members.
SpaceX is already in the top 10.
Among other changes announced, the rule that requires companies to float a minimum of 10% of their shares was also scrapped.
Analysts estimate that funds tracking the Nasdaq-100 will be required to purchase at least $7bn (€6bn) worth of SpaceX shares around the inclusion date, creating a wave of mechanical demand.
SpaceX has also already become eligible for inclusion in both the Russell US Equity Indexes and the FTSE Global Equity Index Series under the newly announced fast-entry rules from the index provider FTSE Russell.
The S&P 500, however, will not adopt a similar fast-track approach.
S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed in early June that it would maintain its 12-month seasoning requirement and GAAP profitability test, meaning SpaceX will not join the index before mid-2027.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
This article does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research and invest according to your specific circumstances.
SpaceX is set for the largest stock market debut ever.
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Elon Musk’s rocket company begins trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker SPCX. The company priced its shares at $135 each, raising $75 billion (€64.5bn) and valuing the business at $1.75 trillion (€1.5trn) in the biggest stock market flotation on record.
The deal would comfortably eclipse Saudi Aramco’s previous record of $29.4bn, set in 2019 and later increased through an overallotment option.
SpaceX made an unusually strong push to attract retail investors, including those in Europe. According to Bloomberg, individual investors placed roughly $100bn (€86.6bn) in orders through trading platforms including Robinhood, Fidelity and SoFi during the IPO process.
That demand alone exceeded the company’s $75bn (€64.5bn) fundraising target, underscoring the level of interest from smaller investors ahead of the stock market debut.
Yet beneath the hype, several warning lights are flashing. Here are five risks investors should weigh before the SpaceX IPO goes live.
1. Is SpaceX worth $1.75tn?
At a valuation of $1.75tn (€1.5trn), investors would be valuing SpaceX at roughly 94 times its annual revenue, which was $18.7bn (€16.1bn) in 2025. By comparison, Nvidia — one of the market’s most highly valued technology companies — trades at less than a quarter of that level.
The investment research firm Morningstar, which values the company at $780bn (€675bn), called it “significantly overvalued” while Goldman Sachs data suggests sustaining the share price would require revenues above $100bn (€86.6bn) by 2030, implying a compound annual growth of more than 40%.
History offers a note of caution. Research by University of Florida professor Jay Ritter, often referred to as “Mr IPO”, found that while IPOs between 2012 and 2021 rose an average of 23.6% on their first day of trading, they returned just 10.6% over the following three years.
2. Fast-tracked into indexes and supported by a small float
SpaceX’s expected inclusion in major stock indexes has become a point of controversy. Investment officials from four large US states have urged Nasdaq and FTSE Russell to explain recent rule changes that could accelerate the company’s entry into widely tracked benchmarks.
Critics argue the move could expose passive investors to a highly valued stock sooner than expected, while the index providers say the changes reflect broader market developments.
The debate matters because relatively few SpaceX shares will initially be available for trading. Although SpaceX is valued at $1.75tr (€1.5trn), only around 3% to 4% of its shares will initially be available for public trading.
That means the company’s market value will be determined by trading in a relatively small portion of its equity. Reports suggest more than 75% of the $75bn (€64.5bn) offering has already been allocated to existing investors and insiders, leaving fewer shares available on the open market.
According to Morningstar, the limited float and strong demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks could help support the share price in the early stages of trading, even if the company is valued above what the research firm considers fair value. The firm argues that a clearer picture of investor demand may emerge once lock-up restrictions expire and more shares become available for trading.
Some analysts, however, believe the limited float could continue to support the stock. Estimates suggest between $22 billion (€19bn) and $27 billion (€23.4bn) of passive investment could flow into SpaceX once it joins the Nasdaq 100, creating additional demand from index-tracking funds.
3. Losses, not profits
SpaceX’s financial results may also give investors pause.
The prospectus shows that the company is growing rapidly but still losing money.
The company owns the Starlink satellite internet service, which generates most of its revenue and is its only profitable business. It also owns the artificial intelligence company xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February.
According to the filing, SpaceX carried an accumulated deficit of $41.3bn (€35.76bn) as of 31 March and reported a net loss of $4.27bn (€3.7bn) in the first quarter of 2026.
This compares with $528mn (€457mn) in the same period a year earlier.
Much of the recent loss stems from xAI. According to SpaceX’s IPO filing, the AI business recorded an operating loss of about $6.4 billion (€5.5bn) in 2025. The filing also showed xAI spent heavily in the opening months of 2026 as it expanded its AI infrastructure.
Morningstar argues the AI unit “poses a material threat of value destruction”, noting that Grok has yet to win meaningful market share against rival chatbots.
Supporters counter that the losses are a choice, not a structural flaw.
Revenue climbed 33% to $18.7bn (€16.2bn) in 2025, up from $14.1 billion (€12.2bn) a year earlier. The underlying launch and satellite business was profitable as recently as 2024. The deficits largely reflect heavy investment in AI infrastructure, spending that supporters say is already beginning to be offset by new compute contracts.
4. The AI growth gamble
Supporters argue investors are paying for future growth rather than current profits.
Starlink remains the company’s main source of revenue, while its artificial intelligence business is expected to play a larger role in the years ahead.
Bulls also point to SpaceX’s dominant position in rocket launches and satellite communications, arguing the company is uniquely placed to benefit from growing demand for connectivity, computing power and AI infrastructure.
SpaceX conducts more rocket launches annually than the rest of the world combined and counts over nine million Starlink subscribers, but its newest growth driver is the AI data-centre business acquired through the xAI merger.
Last Friday, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million (€796.6mn) per month for compute capacity at xAI data centres, in a 32-month deal running from October 2026 through June 2029, and covering access to roughly 110,000 Nvidia GPUs.
That followed a May agreement under which Anthropic pays $1.25 billion (€1.08bn) a month to rent the entire output of the Colossus 1 data centre until May 2029, putting combined annualised compute revenue at around $26 billion (€22.5bn).
Bulls argue this contracted income, won in under four months, shows how quickly the company can monetise its infrastructure. Sceptics note that both contracts carry 90-day termination clauses after December 2026, and that Google itself has framed the arrangement as “bridge capacity” rather than a permanent commitment.
5. The Elon Musk-sized risk
SpaceX’s success is closely tied to Elon Musk, whose profile and track record have helped attract investors, customers and business partners. That creates what investors call “key-person risk” — concerns about how the company would fare if he were no longer leading it.
The company’s governance structure reinforces that dependence. Musk’s super-voting Class B shares give him around 85% of voting power, leaving outside shareholders with little influence over major corporate decisions. In practice, that means no one but Musk himself can determine whether he remains chief executive.
Critics also point to SpaceX’s incorporation in Texas, where only investors holding at least 3% of shares can bring derivative lawsuits. The Danish academic pension fund AkademikerPension has blacklisted the stock, describing the governance structure as “catastrophic”.
Supporters argue that dual-class share structures are common among US technology firms, including Meta and Alphabet. They say concentrated voting control allows founders to pursue long-term goals without pressure from short-term investors.
Musk’s prominence also brings political risk. US Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to scrutinise the listing, warning that future index inclusion could expose millions of passive investors to the stock without them actively choosing it.
Others note that the SEC completed its review faster than expected, allowing the IPO process to move ahead without delay and suggesting regulators see no immediate obstacle to the listing.
Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it’s right for your specific circumstances. Also remember, we are a journalistic website and aim to provide the best guides, tips and advice from experts. If you rely on the information here, then you do so entirely at your own risk.
SpaceX’s long-anticipated IPO is hours away from reshaping the fortunes of thousands of employees.
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The listing, set for this Friday, is expected to mint millionaires not only among senior engineers and executives, but also among blue-collar workers, including cooks and welders, who received equity as part of their compensation packages.
The windfall is heavily concentrated around Brownsville, Texas, one of the poorest cities in the US, where SpaceX employs more than 3,000 people at its Starbase facility.
What makes this IPO unusual, even by Silicon Valley standards, is how far down the organisational chart the equity grants appear to have reached.
Some estimates cited by media reports put the total number of newly minted millionaires across the entire company at around 4,000. However, the figures could not be independently verified.
Michael Limas, a financial planner based in Brownsville, told Bloomberg that several of the company’s non-technical workers received stock options as part of their pay.
“SpaceX has been very friendly with options at various levels, from top to bottom. It’s something that’s unique to this area,” Limas stated.
One example cited by the investment research platform Moby illustrates the scale rather starkly. A welder’s initial equity grant of $10,000 (€8,650) is now reportedly valued at close to $880,000 (€762,000) ahead of the listing.
These individual figures reflect a broader picture of generous equity compensation that has been reported consistently across multiple outlets.
The IPO itself features a staggered lockup structure rather than the standard 180-day cliff that most companies employ.
According to the prospectus, it includes multiple early release windows, among them a performance-linked mechanism that would activate if the stock trades 30% above its IPO price on five out of ten consecutive trading days. That would allow some employees to access their new wealth within weeks of the debut.
Brownsville braces for the ripple effects
SpaceX’s impact on the region has already been striking, and the financial gains generated by the IPO are likely to amplify it.
Brownsville has long ranked among the most economically deprived cities in the US, with a median family income roughly a third below the national average, according to government data.
SpaceX arrived about a decade ago, establishing its Starbase launch facility on the Gulf of Mexico shore around 40 kilometres from the city centre.
The transformation since then has reportedly been marked by an influx of professionals from California and elsewhere. Rising housing costs have followed, as they often do when wealth becomes concentrated in a particular area.
According to several realtors and economists, the median housing prices in the broader Brownsville-Harlingen metro area have risen roughly 25% since 2020, from around $185,000 (€160,000) to $233,000 (€201,000).
Long-time residents, many of them on modest incomes, are feeling the pressure.
For many employees, the transition from holding shares they could not easily sell to having access to cash brings its own complications.
According to Bloomberg, wealth managers in the region describe a climate of considerable anxiety among staff, given the sense that this may be their single opportunity to build generational wealth and that getting the timing and tax planning wrong could be costly.
More than 100 SpaceX employees in the region reportedly pooled together to negotiate wealth-management terms collectively with the advisory firm Choreo, a move that helped them secure lower management fees by bringing between $1 billion (€865mn) and $5 billion (€4.33bn) in potential assets to the table.
Brownsville’s mayor, John Cowen, a sixth-generation resident of the area, has sought to frame the transformation in positive terms, arguing to US media that it is great for the city to be known as a place for investment.
Beyond SpaceX itself, other industrial projects have followed in the company’s wake, including building a liquefied natural gas export terminal near the Port of Brownsville.
Back in March, US President Donald Trump also announced the construction of a $300 billion (€260bn) oil refinery at the port, which could reportedly bring 500 full-time jobs.
Whether the IPO ultimately delivers on its promise, and how equitably its benefits filter through a city that has known far more hardship than prosperity, remains to be seen.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, has unveiled the crew for its upcoming Artemis III spaceflight, a preparatory mission as the United States plans to return to the Moon.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that astronauts Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, Luca Parmitano and Randy Bresnik will be leading the flight. Serving as a backup is veteran test pilot Bob Heintz, who is able to substitute into any role.
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Their two-week mission will focus on collecting research and practising in-space docking procedures in preparation for a future Moon landing.
While no women were named to the Artemis III flight, the newly announced crew represents a range of experiences and backgrounds.
Making his first spaceflight is Florida-born engineer Douglas, 40, who was a backup crew member for NASA’s last major spaceflight, Artemis II, which flew a loop around the Moon.
Douglas will serve as mission specialist on Artemis III, and his presence on the flight will make him one of roughly two dozen African American people to travel to space, out of a population of hundreds of space travellers so far.
Also serving as mission specialist will be Rubio, a 50-year-old Salvadoran American physician who used to pilot Black Hawk helicopters for the US Army. He currently holds the record for the longest single-duration spaceflight by a US astronaut, at 371 days.
The oldest member of the four-man crew is its 58-year-old commander, Bresnik. A former US Navy test pilot and Marine, Bresnik is the only Artemis III crew member to have participated in a space shuttle mission, back in 2009. That programme has since been retired.
More recently, in 2017, Bresnik served as the commander for the International Space Station.
The fourth and final member of the Artemis III mission is its pilot, Parmitano, 49. He will be the only astronaut on the mission who is not a US citizen.
Born in Paterno, Italy, Parmitano has a background in his country’s air force. In 2019, he too served as commander on board the International Space Station, becoming the first Italian to do so.
“ Each of you possess a unique background,” said NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, who introduced the astronauts. “Your vast experience and unwavering dedication to NASA’s mission enables you to help make us and take this next great step in space exploration.”
The Artemis III mission will be a public-private partnership. Three rockets will blast off as part of the initiative.
One will carry the four-man crew into orbit around Earth in an Orion spacecraft. Another two rockets will bear aloft Moon lander models from Blue Origin and SpaceX, private firms owned respectively by tech entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
The Orion spacecraft will then practice rendezvous procedures with each of the two landers, in preparation for similar manoeuvres during future Moon missions. The Artemis III flight is set to take off before the end of 2027.
“Artemis III will be an extraordinary demonstration of what is possible when the greatest aerospace companies across the United States, alongside our European partners, come together to showcase the technological might and ambition of the free world,” said Isaacman, a Trump appointee who has experience commanding private space flights for SpaceX.
From left: Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio, and Andre Douglas speak during a news conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, on June 9, in Houston, Texas [AFP]
Explosion prompts concern
The mood at Tuesday’s unveiling ceremony was celebratory, as each newly announced astronaut took the stage to soaring music and standing ovations.
But looming over the event were concerns related to the explosion of an uncrewed Blue Origin New Glenn rocket in Florida on May 28.
That blast sent a mushroom cloud billowing above the city of Cape Canaveral, and it caused severe damage to a launchpad complex where the takeoff was scheduled.
Representatives from both NASA and Blue Origin, however, took the stage to wave aside any concerns.
“While we recognise there are questions about how Blue Origin’s recent anomaly impacts our plans, setbacks are a learning opportunity,” said Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s acting deputy administrator.
He added that NASA was taking an “active role” with its partners to “ensure the right outcomes are achieved”. The private firms, in turn, were granted “unparalleled access” to NASA experts, technology and test facilities.
“We are confident that New Glenn will be ready for Artemis III, together with Blue Origin,” Parsons said.
John Couluris, a representative for Blue Origin, likewise described the May 28 explosion as an “anomaly”.
“We’ve redoubled our efforts and are moving forward,” Couluris said, describing Blue Origin’s factories as “running around-the-clock shifts” to be ready for the Artemis III launch.
“We will measure ourselves not only by our successes but how we respond to setbacks.”
The Artemis II mission in April made a loop around the Moon, capturing images of Earth [File: NASA via AP Photo]
Race to the Moon
The race to beat China’s space programme was another theme that cropped up during Monday’s ceremony.
Several speakers alluded to China’s growing lunar landing programme, a rival to NASA’s efforts.
Earlier this year, the China Manned Space Agency announced its intentions to place a person on the Moon by 2030. Already, in 2024, China became the first country to retrieve soil samples from the far side of the Moon using robotics.
But lunar missions have been a point of pride for the US, which holds the distinction of completing the first crewed mission to the Moon in 1969.
Last April, the Artemis II flight marked the US’s return to lunar travel. For the first time since 1972, a crewed capsule flew beyond low Earth orbit, and it broke records for the farthest crewed flight into space.
Next year’s Artemis III mission is set to build on that effort. The administration of US President Donald Trump has signalled it would like to see astronauts land on the Moon before the Republican leader’s term ends in January 2029.
NASA officials have also described the Artemis programme as a stepping stone to establishing a permanent base on the Moon. Various speakers on Monday highlighted that vision.
Couluris, the Blue Origin representative, called the Moon an “eighth continent” for humans to explore.
NASA scientist Nicky Fox, meanwhile, described the Artemis III mission as part of the preparatory work that would enable the US “to plant astronaut boots back on the lunar surface — to stay”.
But the US’s lunar programme has faced numerous setbacks, as NASA engineers work to address technical issues that could otherwise cause life-threatening situations in deep space.
Originally, Artemis III was supposed to mark the US’s return to the Moon, bearing a crew to the lunar surface. But in February, that plan was scrapped in favour of the present-day project, which focuses on conducting practice drills in low Earth orbit.
“We will use this mission to reduce risk for our future crewed Moon missions with lander test articles from both Blue Origin and SpaceX, to ensure we will beat China back to the Moon,” Parsons said on Tuesday.
“This mission is deliberately designed to take calculated risks so that future crews will be safer and ultimately successful when we put boots on the lunar surface.”
Still, officials applauded Artemis III as a major step towards human beings reaching the Moon once more.
In a recorded statement, Senator Ted Cruz suggested that the Artemis III mission would also put the US a step ahead of China.
“At a time of growing competition with China in space, this mission will strengthen America’s leadership, expand our economy, and help secure a lasting American lunar presence,” he said.
“When America commits to a mission, we lead and we succeed.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other leaders in artificial intelligence testify in May before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. OpenAI filed confidentially for an initial public offering Monday. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI | License Photo
June 8 (UPI) — Artificial intelligence company OpenAI confidentially filed for an initial public offering Monday, becoming the third in a well-known trio of U.S. AI companies to do so in the past few weeks.
Rival AI company Anthropic filed for an IPO on June 1, and SpaceX (which merged with xAI, also owned by Elon Musk) filed in late May. SpaceX’s debut is set for Friday. All three are expected to be very lucrative for early investors, as they have valuations around $1 trillion, Axios reported.
OpenAI said in a post that there has been no decision on the IPO’s timing yet.
“It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” the post said.
The company has had both successes and trials in recent months, CNN reported. Musk lost a lawsuit against it in mid-May because of the statute of limitations, and the company has expanded ChatGPT options and other AI tools and programs.
However, the company and founder/CEO Sam Altman are also facing lawsuits because of ChatGPT’s role in recent shootings and other issues. Florida announced last week that it is suing the company and Altman, claiming the company chose “profits over public safety” in creating a dangerous product in the form of ChatGPT. The state also has an ongoing criminal investigation into the company.
Individuals including the family members of those killed or injured in a recent school shooting have also sued, saying that the company should have warned authorities about the shooter’s interactions with ChatGPT.
Wizz Air has made an announcement that will affect passengers planning to fly with the budget carrier from 2027 onwards. It has confirmed that travellers will soon be able to enjoy high-speed internet access on board.
The airline, which is based in Hungary, revealed it is fitting Elon Musk’s Starlink internet system across all its “new generation” aircraft. Wizz Air claims it will be the first European ultra-low-cost carrier to adopt the technology.
The airline has yet to confirm whether passengers will be charged for using the service. Starlink — owned by billionaire Mr Musk’s SpaceX aerospace firm — operates via thousands of satellites in orbit around Earth. A growing number of airlines have already begun offering the service or have announced plans to introduce it, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
Ian Malin, chief commercial officer of Wizz Air, said: “Ultra low-cost travel has always been about making opportunities accessible to more people. In 2027, we’re taking that philosophy into the space era.
“Our customers shouldn’t have to choose between affordable fares and reliable internet onboard to stay connected to the people, work and moments that matter most. We’re proud to lead that change by collaborating with Starlink to bring maximum benefit to Wizz Air.”
In January, a row broke out between Mr Musk and Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary over whether Starlink could be used on the airline’s flights. After Mr O’Leary dismissed the idea as unfeasible, Mr Musk branded Mr O’Leary an “idiot” and a “chimp”, and speculated on X about potentially buying the airline.
Mr O’Leary claimed the “PR spat” had driven a 2-3% increase in sales.
Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX is targeting a valuation of nearly $1.77 trillion in its blockbuster initial public offering (IPO), paving the way for the largest stock market debut in history.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, SpaceX said that it plans to sell 555.6 million shares at $135 apiece, raising approximately $75bn.
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The eye-popping valuation would make SpaceX the world’s seventh-largest company by market capitalisation, ahead of Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla and social media giant Meta, and just behind Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC.
It would also eclipse energy giant Saudi Aramco’s 2019 debut, which raised $26bn at a valuation of $1.7 trillion.
Musk, who holds a roughly 42 percent stake in SpaceX, is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire upon the company’s debut on the New York-based Nasdaq stock exchange on June 12.
Despite the public listing, Musk will retain effective control of SpaceX with more than 82 percent of voting rights, the result of a dual-class stock structure that grants certain shares 10 votes instead of one.
The Texas-based firm’s decision to set a specific share price ahead of its IPO marks a break from usual practice.
Companies preparing for a public listing usually announce a preliminary price range that can be adjusted based on investor interest.
“The genuine surprise is that SpaceX fixed a price before the investor roadshow began,” Fabien Yip, a market analyst at online trading and investment company IG Group, told Al Jazeera.
“To me, this reflects Musk’s control over the deal terms and his confidence that the book will fill.”
Elon Musk departs after a welcome ceremony with USPresident Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on May 14, 2026 [File: Mark Schiefelbein/AP]
Founded by Musk in 2002, SpaceX is best known for designing and launching rockets, spacecraft and reusable launch vehicles on behalf of NASA and private companies.
The company also provides internet services and artificial intelligence models through its Starlink and xAI divisions.
Musk has outlined lofty ambitions for SpaceX, including to establish a “self-sustaining” city on Mars, “make life multiplanetary,” and “extend the light of consciousness to the stars”.
SpaceX’s listing will be a test of investors’ confidence in Musk’s vision, which has yet to translate into profits at the company.
SpaceX reported a net loss of $4.9bn on revenue of 18.7bn in 2025, followed by a $4.3bn loss in the first quarter of this year.
Jay R Ritter, an emeritus professor at the University of Florida who specialises in IPOs, said the SpaceX IPO differs from Saudi Aramco’s blockbuster listing as the state-owned oil company had a track record of generating large revenues and profits.
“SpaceX, in contrast, has trailing annual revenue of less than $20bn, and is not profitable,” Ritter told Al Jazeera.
“So, one company’s valuation was – and is – based on its demonstrated profitability, while the other company’s valuation is based on potential.”
“With SpaceX, there is a risk that cash flows will be used to send hundreds of thousands of people to Mars, at a loss,” Ritter added.
Despite SpaceX’s lack of profitability, market sentiment is strong, said IG’s Yip, noting that buyers of investment products linked to the listing are pricing the company’s end-of-first-day market capitalisation at $2.2 trillion.
“The Tesla parallel is perhaps worth drawing: It debuted in 2010 as a loss-making company and largely tracked the S&P 500 for years, only breaking away decisively once it turned profitable for the first time in Q1 2013,” Yip said, referring to the benchmark stock index on Wall Street.
“SpaceX investors are making a similar bet on future growth, with the added complexity that SpaceX’s addressable market – rockets, satellite internet, AI – is considerably broader than Tesla’s was at listing.”
The incident is the latest setback for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
By AFP, Reuters and The Associated Press
Published On 29 May 202629 May 2026
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has exploded on the launchpad during a test in the US state of Florida.
The incident on Thursday evening is the latest setback for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
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Footage of the incident shows smoke emerging from underneath the rocket before it erupts into a massive fireball that billows skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air.
Emergency crews remained at the scene more than an hour later, but officials said there was no threat from fumes or other potential hazards.
No injuries have been reported.
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said in a brief statement posted on X, adding that “all personnel have been accounted for”.
A hot-fire test is where a rocket engine is fired up while anchored to the ground.
In a separate X post, Bezos said it was “too early to know the root cause” of the incident.
“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it,” Bezos added.
US House Representative Mike Haridopolos, whose Florida district includes the launch site at Cape Canaveral, said in a statement on X that he has been in contact with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman regarding the explosion.
“I am grateful there were no reported injuries and thankful for the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who acted quickly,” Haridopolos said.
Blue Origin is preparing the New Glenn rocket to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, part of efforts to build a broadband constellation to rival Musk’s Starlink network.
Musk responded on X to a video of the New Glenn explosion, saying: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”
Last month, the New Glenn rocket failed a mission to deliver a communications satellite into the correct orbit, prompting an investigation.
International cave rescue experts in Laos were in a race against time and the weather as day 7 of an operation to rescue seven people trapped in a flooded cave in a mineral rich region of the country came to a close. Photo by Metta Tham Kalasin Rescue/EPA
May 26 (UPI) — Authorities in Laos were in a race against time and the weather Tuesday as day 7 of an operation to rescue seven people trapped in a flooded cave in a mineral-rich region north of the capital, Vientiane, came to a close.
The group, all locals, became trapped by landslides triggered by heavy rains on Wednesday after entering the remote cave, which is accessible only on foot, in the central province of Xaysomboun on a hunting and gold prospecting mission.
The landslides blocked the cave entrance and caused it to flood with muddy water.
The group have not been heard from since, but one person who managed to reach safety reported at least one area of the cave was not underwater and specialist cave rescue divers from neighboring Thailand who had joined the operation said they had found pockets of air.
“I’m confident that they are still alive because there is still air in the cave,” said Metta Tham Rescue head of operations Kengkard Bongkawong.
He said that with water levels still rising after torrential rain forced rescuers to retreat Sunday night, they were pumping water out 24 hours a day and placing fixed ropes inside for rescuers to follow.
“The route is not complicated but the problem is the space. It’s so narrow that we have to crawl and tilt to pass through; also the rocks are really sharp,” said Kengkard.
Kengkard took part in the dive operation in 2018 to rescue 12 members of a youth football team and their coach after they had been trapped for more than two weeks in a flooded cave in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province.
The Metta Tham Rescue team was joined at the site Monday by Finnish diver Mikko Paasi, and Thai cave diver Norrased Palasing, also both veterans of the Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018.
The rescue turned into a huge international operation involving 10,000 specialists, from cave rescue and medical experts to Elon Musk, who had his engineers develop a mini rescue. submersible.
The mini sub was never used but two divers, both former Thai Navy SEALS, were killed in the operation.
Wreathes are seen amongst the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington on May 27, 2023. Memorial Day, which honors U.S. military personnel who died while in service, is held on the last Monday of May. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced plans on Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever, by taking a space company public that is currently losing billions of dollars a year.
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A filing shows that SpaceX lost $2.6 billion (€2.24bn) from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses continued at the start of this year.
The prospectus did not put a dollar figure on the amount Musk hopes to raise, but various reports have estimated it at around $75bn (€64.5bn). An offering of that size would easily surpass the current title holder, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that went public seven years ago and raised $26bn (€22.4bn).
SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said the money will help finance projects to put people on the Moon and Mars, as part of its goal to make humans an interplanetary species in the face of existential threats that could wipe out civilisation.
“We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs,” the filing states.
The prospectus reads, in part, like a Hollywood-style vision of the future, detailing in one section that part of Musk’s compensation will be granted only if he maintains “a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.”
Short of that, the stock sale alone could make Musk — the founder and a major shareholder of SpaceX — the world’s first trillionaire. Forbes currently estimates his net worth at $839bn (€722bn), roughly equivalent to Poland’s annual GDP.
Losses mount despite strong revenue and Starlink growth
In addition to making reusable rockets to send astronauts into orbit, SpaceX has other businesses, some successful and others struggling, with plenty of question marks.
The document shows that Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company, is a major source of cash, generating $4.4bn (€3.8bn) in operating income last year. The business uses 10,000 satellites in low orbit to provide internet service to 10 million people in 150 countries and territories.
Among the struggling businesses are two Musk ventures recently acquired by SpaceX — his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and his artificial intelligence firm xAI. Those purchases were criticised by some SpaceX investors as bailouts, as both are significant loss-makers.
The prospectus said its AI business lost $6.4bn (€5.5bn) from operations last year.
The original SpaceX business — building rockets and conducting launches — has benefited from major government contracts, raising questions that could come back to affect the company. Given Musk’s close ties to the Trump administration, government ethics lawyers and watchdogs have questioned whether he received preferential treatment in securing taxpayer-funded contracts, and whether that support will continue once Donald Trump leaves office.
SpaceX has won contracts worth $6bn (€5.2bn) from NASA, the Defence Department and other government agencies over the past five years, according to USAspending.gov. The company noted in its filing that one-fifth of its revenue last year came from the federal government.
Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign and remains a major backer, despite a sometimes rocky relationship following his role in the government cost-cutting effort known as DOGE early last year.
Musk’s pay tied to ambitious targets as he retains firm control
Like many corporate CEOs, Musk’s compensation goes far beyond his annual salary, which was $54,080 (€46,538.5)in 2025 and has remained unchanged since 2019, according to the filing.
The prospectus says stock grants for him will be divided into 15 nearly equal tranches — 67 million shares each — and will vest only as the company reaches preset market capitalisation targets. In addition to the Mars colony milestone, SpaceX’s market value would need to reach $7.5 trillion (€6.45tr) for him to receive the full award.
He would receive additional stock awards if SpaceX succeeds in deploying giant data centres the size of football fields in space.
The document shows Musk will retain significant control over the business.
It states that he and certain other shareholders will receive shares in a special class of stock that gives them 10 votes per share. These shareholders will be able, among other things, to elect a majority of the company’s board of directors.
“This will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors,” SpaceX said in a warning to prospective investors.
SpaceX will be able to market the offering to investors — in what is known on Wall Street as a “roadshow” — 15 days after making its prospectus public. In this case, that would be 4 June.
On Monday morning, a jury in Oakland, California, announced its verdict in one of the most-watched tech feuds between billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The nine-member jury handed a decisive victory to Altman, saying Musk had waited too long to bring his claims against the artificial intelligence company and its top executives.
Musk, who cofounded OpenAI as a nonprofit, had filed a $150bn lawsuit against the organisation, Altman and its president, Greg Brockman, accusing them of turning it into a for-profit entity for personal enrichment.
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The verdict, however, stopped short of resolving the central question at the heart of the case, whether OpenAI betrayed the nonprofit mission on which it was founded in 2015 as it transformed from a research lab focused on benefitting humanity into one of the world’s most powerful AI companies.
Instead, the case became focused on a procedural issue. After deliberating for less than two hours, the jury unanimously found that the statute of limitations had expired before Musk filed the lawsuit in 2024, meaning jurors concluded he had waited too long to bring his claims under the applicable legal deadline. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the finding and dismissed the case.
The ruling removes a major legal threat for OpenAI at a pivotal moment for the company, which is deepening its commercial partnerships, expanding its relationship with Microsoft and moving towards what could become one of the largest public offerings in Silicon Valley history; while for Musk, the ruling leaves room to argue that the case was lost on timing rather than substance.
Shortly after the verdict, Musk repeated his accusations on X. “Altman & Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is WHEN they did it!” Musk wrote on X. “Creating a precedent to loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America.”
Musk has decided to appeal, ensuring that the increasingly bitter feud between two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures is unlikely to end any time soon.
How did Musk and Altman fall out?
Musk and Altman cofounded OpenAI in 2015 alongside Brockman and other researchers at a time when concerns were growing over how AI could reshape society.
The idea, according to testimony and internal discussions presented during the trial, was that the company could focus on building safe AI systems that benefitted humanity rather than prioritising shareholder returns.
Musk and Altman also believed the nonprofit structure would help OpenAI compete with technology giants such as Google by attracting top researchers and positioning the organisation as a mission-driven alternative.
Musk claims he contributed roughly $38m to OpenAI during its early years, but relations between the founders later deteriorated sharply. He resigned from OpenAI’s board in February 2018, officially citing potential conflicts of interest as Tesla became more focused on AI.
But the split deepened after OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary and Microsoft invested heavily in the company. Microsoft has since committed tens of billions of dollars to its partnership with OpenAI, helping transform ChatGPT into one of the defining products of the global AI boom.
Musk became increasingly critical of the company, arguing that OpenAI had moved far beyond the nonprofit vision on which it was founded. In 2023, he launched a rival AI company, xAI, the maker of the Grok chatbot, before filing his lawsuit against OpenAI the following year.
Why did the case collapse?
At the centre of the trial was a relatively technical legal question about when Musk became aware that OpenAI was moving towards a profit-driven structure.
Because the lawsuit was filed in 2024, Musk needed to convince jurors that the alleged wrongdoing occurred within the legal time limit for bringing his claims.
Musk argued that his concerns fully crystallised only in 2023, particularly after Microsoft’s big investments into OpenAI’s for-profit arm.
But OpenAI’s lawyers argued that Musk had known for years that the company planned to pursue a commercial structure and raise huge amounts of outside funding.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that discussions about creating a for-profit arm dated back to at least 2017. Jurors also heard testimony that Altman had sent Musk documents in 2018 outlining plans for OpenAI to raise billions of dollars through a for-profit structure.
Ultimately, the jury sided with OpenAI’s argument that Musk could have filed his lawsuit much earlier – and therefore waited too long.
That meant jurors never had to answer the more explosive question at the centre of the case about whether OpenAI had actually betrayed its founding mission.
What did OpenAI argue?
OpenAI maintained throughout the trial that there was never an agreement to remain a nonprofit indefinitely. Its lawyers argued that Musk understood from the beginning that developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence would require extraordinary levels of funding and computing power.
OpenAI also portrayed Musk’s lawsuit as partly motivated by rivalry. By the time the case reached court, Musk’s xAI had emerged as a direct competitor to OpenAI in the race to develop advanced AI systems.
Meanwhile, OpenAI had become one of the most powerful companies in the technology industry, reportedly valued at more than $800bn and moving towards what could eventually become one of the largest public offerings in history.
Lawyers for OpenAI argued that Musk became hostile only after losing influence within the company and watching Altman turn OpenAI into the dominant force in generative AI.
What questions did the trial leave unanswered?
Although the verdict was a clear legal victory for OpenAI, the trial never became the sweeping test case about the future of artificial intelligence that many had expected.
Because the case was resolved on procedural grounds, the court did not answer some of the biggest questions raised by the AI boom: how these systems should be governed, who should benefit economically from them, and whether companies developing increasingly powerful AI tools can still claim to act in the public interest while pursuing enormous commercial growth.
The trial also touched only briefly on broader concerns surrounding AI development, including transparency, labour and the extraction of data used to train AI systems.
Nicole Turner Lee, director of the Centre for Technology Innovation, told Al Jazeera that one of the central problems surrounding AI is that the technology is deeply “extractive”.
“It does undergo theft where people do not consent as to whether or not their information, their image, their voice, their text are actually being extracted,” she said, raising concerns about compensation and consent in AI training systems.
Those issues remained largely outside the scope of the trial due to it ultimately centring on procedural issues.
The ruling, therefore, also removed the possibility of a far more disruptive outcome that could have threatened OpenAI’s corporate structure, its partnership with Microsoft and the wider wave of investment pouring into the AI industry.
But the broader debate over AI’s future is far from settled. With Musk preparing an appeal, the courtroom battle between the two former allies looks set to continue alongside wider questions about how AI should be governed.
1 of 2 | U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) lead their delegations into a gala dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday during a high-stakes summit in the Chinese capital. Photo by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
May 14 (UPI) — Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted President Trump at a glittering state banquet in the Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday as the two leaders wrapped up the first day of a planned two-day summit.
The elegant dinner came after a day of discussions in which Xi warned Trump that mishandling the matter of Taiwan’s independence could push the two superpowers into “conflict,” but which also included moments of agreement and praise offered by both leaders.
The dinner menu included roast duck, pork buns and and beef ribs served by waiters in traditional red clothing, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, while the entertainment program was highlighted by a performance of the American hit song “YMCA” by the People’s Liberation Army band.
During his speech at the elaborate dinner, Trump described U.S.-China relations as “one of the most important in history” and focused on the long-standing ties between Washington and Beijing.
Xi, meanwhile, drew parallels between the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence and the start of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development.
“The over 300 million American people are reinvigorating the spirit of patriotism, innovation and enterprise, and ushering in a new journey for the development of the United States,” he said, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The peoples of both China and the United States are “great,” Xi added, saying, “Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand. We can help each other succeed and advance the well-being of the whole world.”
Among the banquet attendees were administration officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, as well as U.S. business leaders including Tim Cook of Apple and Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, the New York Times reported.
The dinner came during a day of talks held against the backdrop of the Iran conflict and mounting tensions over trade, technology and regional security.
Xi, however, placed Taiwan — a self-governing island of 23 million people that China claims as its territory and has vowed to bring under its control — at the top of the agenda.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” Xi told Trump, according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.
“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability,” Xi said. “Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”
Trump did not answer questions from reporters about Taiwan after the meeting.
“Great. Great place. Incredible. China’s beautiful,” Trump said when asked about the talks with Xi, according to a pool report.
Washington does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei but is Taiwan’s main international backer and arms supplier under the Taiwan Relations Act, a 1979 law that states threats to the island are “of grave concern” to the United States.
The Trump administration announced an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December, including rocket systems, drones and anti-tank missiles, though delivery has yet to move forward. Trump said in February that he discussed the sale with Xi and would make a determination “pretty soon.”
Trade also loomed large over the summit after years of tensions over tariffs, export controls and advanced technology restrictions. Trump traveled with a delegation of prominent U.S. executives as his administration seeks expanded Chinese purchases of American aircraft, agricultural goods and energy products.
Xi and Trump also discussed the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula during their meeting, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening for his first visit to China since 2017. Xi did not meet Trump at the airport, but welcomed him Thursday with a red carpet ceremony, troop review and 21-gun salute at the Great Hall of the People. Children waved flowers and American flags as the leaders entered the hall for talks.
In comments at the start of their meeting, Xi said the world was at a “new crossroads” amid mounting geopolitical instability and called on the two countries to work together.
“Currently, transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe and the international situation is fluid and turbulent,” Xi said. “Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world?”
“We should be partners, not rivals,” he added.
Trump called the gathering “maybe the biggest summit ever” and praised Xi’s leadership.
“We’ve had a fantastic relationship,” Trump said. “We’re going to have a fantastic future together. Such respect for China, the job you’ve done. You’re a great leader.”
After talks lasting more than two hours, Trump and Xi traveled to the Temple of Heaven, a ceremonial complex dating to the Ming Dynasty where Chinese emperors once prayed for good harvests. A state banquet was scheduled for Thursday evening.
In China, Elon Musk has gained both admiration and criticism. While he is seen as a visionary, he has faced scrutiny from regulators and the public due to issues with customer complaints. The success of Musk’s SpaceX and its Starlink satellite service has also led to concerns from the People’s Liberation Army, especially as Tesla faces growing competition from Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, which threatens Musk’s standing in the market.
Musk recently attended a summit in Beijing with U. S. President Donald Trump, alongside other CEOs like Tim Cook and Jensen Huang, focusing on resolving business issues with China. After a formal welcome, Musk expressed his desire to achieve “many good things” in the country. At the same event, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun, an admirer of Musk, took a selfie with him, which became popular on social media, showcasing the public’s interest in Musk.
Despite facing competition on technology and pricing from local companies, Musk and Tesla remain influential in China. Experts note that Musk’s business goals align with China’s technological priorities, including electric vehicles, AI, and advanced robotics, making Tesla’s self-driving technology the standard in the industry. In 2018, Tesla became the first foreign automaker permitted to operate in China without a local partner, and its sales in the country reached about 626,000 vehicles last year, contributing significantly to its revenue.
Other Chinese carmakers, like Chery, draw inspiration from Tesla’s focus on innovation, blending it with Toyota’s emphasis on quality. However, Musk’s other ventures, particularly SpaceX, provoke concern among Chinese military and government officials due to its dominance in satellite communications, especially in light of geopolitical tensions, hinting at efforts to develop domestic alternatives.
Though Musk’s social media platform, X, is banned in China, he has a significant following on Weibo and has been celebrated as a global icon in the country. His recent visit pertains to an attempt to purchase $2.9 billion in solar manufacturing equipment from Chinese suppliers, although this may be affected by China’s potential export restrictions on advanced technologies to the U. S.
Musk’s company is also seeking regulatory approval for more advanced self-driving technology. However, his relationship with China has been delicate, particularly when Tesla faced backlash in 2021 over its handling of customer complaints, highlighted by a public protest at an auto show. Additionally, Teslas were previously banned from military areas due to security concerns.
Looking ahead, organizations believe that Tesla’s standing might challenge Musk’s popularity in China as local companies continue to progress. However, he is likely to remain an influential figure in China’s tech scene for his achievements in the automotive and technology industries.
In a United States court, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has rejected claims from fellow tech mogul Elon Musk that he betrayed the artificial intelligence company’s original vision.
Tuesday marked the start of Altman’s testimony in a contentious trial unfolding in Oakland, California, between some of tech’s richest and most powerful titans.
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Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, has sued Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman on the basis that they “stole a charity” by shifting its purpose.
He alleged that OpenAI’s leader persuaded him to invest $38bn, based on a goal of improving humanity, only to see the company pivot to a for-profit venture in 2019.
On the witness stand on Tuesday, Altman instead framed Musk as a competitor obsessed with exercising control over OpenAI.
“It does not fit with my conception of the words ‘stealing a charity’ to look at what has actually happened here,” Altman told the court.
The two men have long had an acrimonious relationship, driven in part by differing views about artificial intelligence.
Musk — a self-described free speech “absolutist” — currently runs his own AI chatbot, Grok, which has been accused of perpetuating right-wing conspiracy theories and offensive materials.
He is seeking $150bn in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, one of its principal investors.
Altman’s testimony comes more than two weeks into the trial, which has seen him and Musk square off against each other.
In his testimony, Altman argued that Musk knew of the plans to develop OpenAI into a for-profit enterprise when he invested, and he asserted that Musk even petitioned to have a majority stake in the company.
“An early number that Mr Musk threw out was that he should have 90 percent of the equity to start,” Altman told the jury. “It then softened, but it always was a majority.”
The outcome of the trial could determine the future of OpenAI, its leadership, and products like ChatGPT. As part of his lawsuit, Musk is pushing for the removal of Altman and Brockman.
The trial comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential initial public offering that could see it valued at $1 trillion, a historically large sum.
During earlier testimony, Musk portrayed Altman as a liar who could not be trusted with the development of the technology.
“If you have someone who is not trustworthy in charge of AI, I think that’s a very big danger for the whole world,” Musk said.
Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, also sought to undermine Altman’s reliability during questioning on Tuesday.
“Have you misled people when you do business?” Molo asked Altman.
“I do not think so,” Altman replied.
Altman, meanwhile, sought to cast doubt on Musk’s leadership; Musk ultimately left OpenAI’s board in 2018 to pursue his own AI development.
“I don’t think Mr Musk understood how to run a good research lab,” Altman said. “He had demotivated some of our most key researchers.”
The US public, for its part, has been largely unconvinced by high-minded rhetoric about the transformative potential of AI.
A March 2026 poll by the Pew Research Center suggested that a majority of respondents in the US believe AI will worsen, rather than improve, the ability to think creatively, form meaningful relationships, make difficult decisions, and solve problems.
Just 10 percent of respondents said they were more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life.
But the industry has been quick to translate its substantial economic power into political influence as lawmakers consider how best to regulate the technology.
The use of AI has emerged as an election-season issue as the US midterms approach in November, and the administration of President Donald Trump has proposed a “national policy framework” for the technology to avoid a patchwork of state regulations.
The AI industry has become a driver of eye-watering investment in recent years, with the United Nations estimating that the global market could be worth $4.8 trillion by 2033.
WASHINGTON — The chair of the House Oversight Committee has sent a letter to OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman requesting information about potential conflicts of interest between Altman’s personal investments and his operation of the company.
The letter, sent Friday, comes amid a high-stakes legal battle currently playing out in an Oakland federal courtroom between one-time partners Altman and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who in 2015 co-founded the AI company best known for creating ChatGPT.
The company was first established solely as a non-profit corporation and the letter sent to Altman by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the Republican chair of the Oversight committee, indicates that the committee is “investigating potential conflicts of interest involving capital from nonprofit corporations invested in startups and other for-profit companies.”
Comer has requested by May 22 a briefing from the company official responsible for oversight of potential conflicts involving company officers and directors, including Altman, as well as all documents related to conflict of interest policies and guidance for those executives.
While OpenAI was created as a non-profit designed to responsibly harness the power of the emerging artificial intelligence technology, the company created a for-profit subsidiary in 2019 and three years later released ChatGPT, which jumpstarted widespread adoption of the technology.
Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, left Open AI’s board in 2018, one year before the creation of the for-profit arm. He is arguing that Altman and another co-founder, Greg Brockman, betrayed the original mission of the non-profit organization, driven by their desire to “cash in” on the technology.
Musk added Microsoft, a significant investor in OpenAI, to the lawsuit in 2024. OpenAI is rumored to be gearing up to go public later this year or early next, and was recently valued at $852 billion.
Musk has said that he invested $38 million in the OpenAI non-profit, but he does not stand to benefit from a potential OpenAI public offering.
He created a rival company xAI in 2023 that was later folded into his company SpaceX
In the lawsuit, Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages, for Altman to be removed from the company and for the company to be fully returned to its non-profit status.
Musk’s complaint also alleges that Altman engaged in self-dealing by directing OpenAI to pursue deals with companies in which he also held a personal stake, including nuclear fusion power company Helion.
Comer’s letter cites reporting that Altman’s pursuit of a Helion deal, which is still ongoing, would come at a lofty valuation of the power-company, boosting the company’s worth, and the value of Altman’s investment.
Altman was briefly forced to step down from leadership of OpenAI in 2023 in part due to concerns about potential conflicts between his personal investments and his operation of the company, but was soon reinstated.
While the company’s board created an audit committee to investigate the potential conflicts of Altman and other officers, the findings were never disclosed.
Comer has requested that Altman turn over all documents and communication related to that audit committee.
Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elon Musk, and more than a dozen other U.S. business executives, will accompany President Donald Trump on his trip to Beijing this week as part of a wide-ranging summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. File photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo
May 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump will be accompanied by 16 senior executives of U.S. companies for his trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The White House on Monday shared a list of the executives, which include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, among others.
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins was unable to join the trip, however executives from Blackstone, Cargill, Citigroup, Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, Illumina, Matstercard, Meta, Micron Technology, Qualcomm and Visa will also travel to China with Trump.
Trump is expected to discuss trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the Iran War, with the creation of a board of investment and a board of trade with China high on his list of goals for his meetings with Xi.
“We’re doing a lot of business [with China], but it’s smart business,” Trump told reporters during a press briefing in the Oval Office on Monday.
“We used to be taken advantage of for years with our previous presidents,” he said. “And now we’re doing great with China. We make a lot of Monday with China.”
The U.S. caravan will depart for Beijing on Tuesday, with meetings scheduled for the rest of the week between the two delegations.
Each of the executives traveling for the meetings has significant business interests in China, which is why they were asked to join Trump for the trip, White House officials have said.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks at an event he is hosting for a group that includes Gold Star Mothers and Angel Mothers in honor of Mother’s Day in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
May 8 (UPI) — The Department of Government Efficiency illegally canceled roughly $100 million in grants that Congress had approved the National Endowment for the Humanities to award, a judge ruled.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon said Thursday in a 143-page decision that DOGE and the Trump administration had “no constitutional authority to block, amend, subvert or delay spending appropriations based on the president’s own policy preferences,” CBS News and The Washington Post reported.
DOGE used ChatGPT to revoke grants the NEH had already awarded that it thought were related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs the administration sought to rapidly eliminate throughout the federal government in 2025.
The NEH was one of 16 “small agencies” that President Donald Trump last May marked for elimination in his 2026 budget proposal, which the DOGE effort, as spearheaded by Elon Musk, had already started culling expenditures from.
“The termination of NEH grants challenged in this action was unlawful because it was undertaken in violation of the First Amendment, in violation of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and without statutory authority,” McMahon wrote in the decision.
The lawsuit was brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association of America after DOGE cut more than 1,400 grants that had been awarded to scholars, research institutions and humanities organizations.
McMahon said that because Congress had not given DOGE the authority to “identify, select or direct the termination of the grants,” she permanently enjoined the government from terminating all of the grants referenced in the lawsuit, as well as from cutting any others using the arguments rejected in the ruling.
Representatives of the three organizations hailed the ruling and said they would continue to push for the full restoration of all the NEH grants, which includes “staff, programs and capacity to serve the public it was created to support.”
“This ruling is an important achievement in our effort to restore the NEH’s ability to fulfill the vital mission with which Congress charged it,” Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, said in a press release.
“From history exhibitions and path breaking scholarship to library programs and professional development opportunities, the humanities help us understand our past and ourselves, providing all of us with the essential tools for our future,” she said.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks at an event he is hosting for a group that includes Gold Star Mothers and Angel Mothers in honor of Mother’s Day in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
