内容来源：https://www.theverge.com/transportation/873203/elon-musk-spacex-xai-merge-data-centers-space-tesla-ipo

内容总结：

马斯克宣布合并SpaceX与xAI 万亿估值背后是“太空AI”梦想还是资本腾挪？

当地时间周一，埃隆·马斯克宣布将合并其旗下的太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）与人工智能公司xAI，交易估值据称高达1.25万亿美元。马斯克在声明中解释，此举旨在推动人工智能的发展进入“太空时代”，因为当前依赖“大型地面数据中心”的AI消耗巨量能源并引发环境与社区问题，而“从长远看，基于太空的AI显然是实现规模化的唯一途径”。

这一构想并非马斯克独有。谷歌的“捕日者”计划、中国及欧洲的相关探索均表明，建造由太阳能供电的太空数据中心正成为全球科技巨头追逐的新趋势。从理论上讲，将高耗能的数据中心送入拥有持续太阳能的同步轨道，能缓解其对地球土地、电力及水资源的压力。

然而，市场观察人士指出了合并背后更为现实的财务考量。目前，SpaceX盈利状况强劲，去年营收约160亿美元，利润达80亿美元，其星链业务是主要收入来源。相比之下，xAI仍处于巨额投入期，据报道每月消耗约10亿美元现金，以追赶 OpenAI、谷歌等资金雄厚的竞争对手。

这种“盈利业务合并亏损业务”的操作令人联想起2016年马斯克将陷入困境的SolarCity并入特斯拉的往事，当时曾引发股东诉讼，指控其进行“纾困”。如今，特斯拉股东已因马斯克创办xAI可能分散其对特斯拉的精力与资源提起新诉讼。此次合并无疑将加剧相关担忧。

值得注意的是，特斯拉自身也与xAI关系密切，已承诺投资20亿美元用于xAI发展，并将xAI旗下正陷于多国调查的聊天机器人Grok集成至部分车型。但Grok在关键性能指标上仍落后于主流大模型。

尽管马斯克描绘的“太空数据中心”愿景宏大，但其实现面临严峻技术挑战，包括太空能源供给、散热以及地球与轨道间高昂的数据传输成本。有分析认为，此次合并更像是马斯克为其AI野心进行的一次大规模资本布局。

最终，这笔交易将如何影响马斯克旗下各实体（尤其是上市公司特斯拉）的股东利益，市场正密切关注。部分投资者警告，特斯拉可能被用作马斯克其他私营事业的“流动性资金来源”。随着合并推进，围绕公司治理、资本分配与长期战略的争议预计将持续发酵。

中文翻译：

周一，埃隆·马斯克宣布将旗下两家公司SpaceX和xAI合并，据称这笔交易价值1.25万亿美元。马斯克在声明中表示，合并的原因是人工智能要发展，就必须进入太空。

埃隆·马斯克正将SpaceX和xAI合并，以在太空建造数据中心——至少他是这么说的。SpaceX是盈利的，而xAI每月大约要烧掉10亿美元。这又是马斯克在自我纾困吗？

马斯克表示，人工智能依赖"大型地面数据中心"，这些数据中心需要"巨大的电力和冷却支持"，这对环境造成了巨大代价，并引发了社区的反对。解决方案是：太空数据中心。马斯克说："从长远来看，天基人工智能显然是实现规模化的唯一途径。"

马斯克并非唯一寻求将数据中心送入轨道的。谷歌有"捕日者"项目，旨在太空建造太阳能人工智能数据中心。中国和欧洲也在研究天基数据中心。正如我们去年报道的，天基数据中心——即配备太阳能电池板的卫星形式——是科技巨头的最新潮流，也是硅谷最新的可投资领域。

表面上看，这听起来是针对高耗能数据中心带来的独特问题的一个合理解决方案。当地社区因对电力需求、用水量和水电费上涨的担忧，正纷纷反对数据中心项目。将这些数据中心送入太空意味着它们不占用地球上的任何空间，而且在太阳同步轨道上可以利用太阳能。

但看待马斯克此次合并还有另一个更简单的角度：SpaceX是盈利的，而xAI不是。xAI不仅不盈利，还在与资金雄厚的谷歌和OpenAI等竞争对手赛跑时，正处于严重的烧钱阶段。据彭博社最近报道，这家AI公司每月烧钱约10亿美元，用于大力建设数据中心、招募人才和运营社交媒体平台X。

与此同时，路透社报道称，SpaceX去年营收约160亿美元，利润约80亿美元。其主要收入来源是星链，占公司营收的80%。自2019年以来，SpaceX已发射超过9500颗卫星，拥有多达900万宽带互联网用户。该公司也是主要的政府承包商，自2008年以来已获得美国宇航局和国防部超过200亿美元的合同。预计今年晚些时候上市时，SpaceX有望筹集高达500亿美元的投资。

与此同时，xAI也有自己的政府合作。美国国防部正在使用Grok以及其他聊天机器人来分析其军事情报网络中的信息。

目前尚不清楚投资者对将烧钱的xAI与盈利的SpaceX合并有何看法。但值得注意的是，马斯克以前也这样做过，2016年他将负债累累的SolarCity与特斯拉合并。由于马斯克是特斯拉和SolarCity的最大股东和董事长，股东们提起诉讼阻止合并，指控这是一次对资金紧张、陷入困境公司的26亿美元"纾困"。马斯克最终赢得了诉讼，法官裁定他没有强迫特斯拉为SolarCity支付过高价格。

马斯克现在因创建xAI而面临特斯拉股东的新诉讼。诉讼称，马斯克创建xAI违反了其对特斯拉的受托责任，因为xAI与这家汽车制造商在AI人才、资源和马斯克的注意力方面存在竞争。SpaceX收购xAI的消息肯定不会平息这些担忧；相反，它会让情况变得更加混乱和复杂。

那么，这一切对特斯拉意味着什么？在最近的财报中，特斯拉表示将向xAI投资20亿美元，"以增强特斯拉大规模开发和部署人工智能产品及服务到物理世界的能力"。xAI的聊天机器人Grok最近作为语音助手被集成到某些特斯拉车辆中，而该机器人目前因生成包括儿童在内的非自愿性化图像而在多个国家接受调查。此外，Grok在几个关键指标上也落后于OpenAI的ChatGPT、谷歌的Gemini、Anthropic的Claude和其他大型语言模型。

太空数据中心纯粹是马斯克的未来主义设想，没有成功的保证。这并非简单地将GPU绑在火箭上然后按下"发射"按钮。首先，GPU是耗电大户。除非你在太空中有一个核反应堆，否则你将需要巨大的太阳能阵列来供电。其次是通信问题；即使你搭乘星链的便车，你仍然需要计算往返地球传输信息的预算。最终，这些数字开始变得相当惊人。

马斯克表示，合并SpaceX和xAI是实现这一目标的方式。也许有一天，他会采纳乐观投资者的建议，将他所有的公司，包括特斯拉、Neuralink和Boring Company，合并成一个由马斯克运营的庞大超级公司：可以称之为"马斯克公司"。特斯拉股东会作何反应？

据《华尔街日报》报道，特斯拉投资者詹姆斯·麦克里奇在2024年股东大会前的预投票陈述中表示："特斯拉是马斯克的流动存钱罐，因为它是上市公司；他的其他公司则不是。""要么他待得足够久，用我们的股东资本为他的其他企业提供资金；要么如果我们拒绝他的薪酬方案并关闭资金水龙头，他就会更快地转移注意力。"

英文来源：

On Monday, Elon Musk announced that he was merging two of his companies, SpaceX and xAI, in a deal said to be worth $1.25 trillion. The reason, Musk said in an announcement, was that in order for AI to grow, it needed to go to space.
Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says
SpaceX is profitable, while xAI is burning about $1 billion a month. Is this another case of Musk bailing out himself?
SpaceX is profitable, while xAI is burning about $1 billion a month. Is this another case of Musk bailing out himself?
AI relies on “large terrestrial data centers” that run on “immense amounts of power and cooling,” he said, which comes at great expense to the environment and community opposition. The solution: data centers in space. “In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale,” Musk said.
Musk isn’t the only one looking to launch data centers into orbit. Google has Project Suncatcher to build solar-powered AI data centers in space. China is looking into space-based data centers, as is Europe. As we reported last year, space-based data centers — in the form of satellites with solar panels — are Big Tech’s latest fad and Silicon Valley’s newest investable venture.
On the surface, it sounds like a logical solution to the unique problem presented by power-hungry data centers. Local communities are rising up against data center projects over concerns about electricity demand, water usage, and rising utility rates. Launching those data centers into space means they are not taking up any space on Earth, and in a sun-synchronous orbit there is the availability of solar energy.
AI relies on “large terrestrial data centers” that run on “immense amounts of power and cooling,” Musk said, which comes at great expense to the environment
But there’s another, simpler way of looking at Musk’s merger: SpaceX is profitable, and xAI is not. Not only is xAI not profitable, it’s in the midst of a serious cash burn as it races to compete with well-financed rivals like Google and OpenAI. As Bloomberg recently reported, the AI company is burning about $1 billion a month as it spends heavily to build data centers, recruit talent, and run the social media platform X.
Meanwhile, SpaceX generated about $8 billion in profit on an estimated $16 billion of revenue last year, Reuters reported. The main revenue driver is Starlink, which accounts for up to 80 percent of the company’s revenue. Since 2019, SpaceX has launched over 9,500 satellites and boasts up to 9 million broadband internet users. The company is also a major government contractor, having secured over $20 billion in NASA and Defense Department deals since 2008. When it goes public later this year, SpaceX is expected to raise up to $50 billion in investment.
Meanwhile, xAI has it own government tie-ups. The Department of Defense is using Grok, in addition to other chatbots, to analyze information that flows through its military intelligence networks.
It’s not clear how investors will feel about merging the cash-burning xAI with the profitable SpaceX. But it’s important to note that Musk has done this before, when he merged the debt-ridden SolarCity with Tesla in 2016. Since Musk was the largest shareholder and chairman of both Tesla and SolarCity, shareholders sued to block the merger, alleging it was a $2.6 billion “bailout” of a cash-strapped, struggling company. Musk eventually won the lawsuit, with a judge ruling that he did not force Tesla to overpay for SolarCity.
Musk now faces a new lawsuit from Tesla shareholders over his creation of xAI. The lawsuit alleges that Musk breached his fiduciary duty to Tesla by forming xAI, which competes with the automaker for AI talent, resources, and Musk’s attention. The news that SpaceX is acquiring xAI certainly won’t settle those concerns; if anything, it makes it more chaotic and complex.
So where does this all leave Tesla? In the most recent earnings report, Tesla said it was investing $2 billion into xAI “to enhance Tesla’s ability to develop and deploy AI products and services into the physical world at scale.” Grok, xAI’s chatbot that’s currently under investigation in multiple countries for generating nonconsensual sexualized images of people, including children, was recently integrated into certain Tesla vehicles as a voice assistant. Grok also lags behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and other large language models in several key metrics.
Data centers in space is pure Musk futurism that has no guarantee of success. It’s not as simple as just strapping a GPU to a rocket and hitting “launch.” First off, GPUs are total power hogs. Unless you’ve got a nuclear reactor floating up there, you’re going to need a massive solar arrays to power it. Then there’s the communication situation; even if you’re hitching a ride on Starlink, you still have to figure out the budget for sending info back and forth to Earth. Eventually, the numbers start to look pretty scary.
Musk says merging SpaceX and xAI is the way to make it happen. And perhaps one day he’ll take the suggestion of bullish investors to combine all his companies, including Tesla, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, into one massive, Musk-run mega-corporation: Musk Inc., if you will. How will Tesla shareholders react?
“Tesla is Musk’s liquid piggy bank, since it’s publicly traded; his other companies are not,” Tesla investor James McRitchie said during a prevote presentation before the company’s 2024 shareholder meeting, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Either he sticks around long enough to use our shareholder capital to fund his other ventures, or he shifts his attention sooner if we reject his pay package and turn off the money tap.”