Elon Musk is outlining an ambitious vision that stretches beyond Earth’s orbit, telling employees at his artificial intelligence startup xAI that the company may eventually build a factory on the moon. The proposed facility would focus on producing satellites designed to power advanced AI systems, marking a dramatic expansion of Musk’s long-term plans for space and computing.
Elon Musk expresses interest in making AI factory on moon
At an all-hands meeting at xAI, Elon Musk floated a headline-grabbing vision that the moon might be the next frontier for artificial intelligence. He told staff that if the company truly wants to ramp up its AI capabilities and meet future computing demands, thinking beyond Earth may be essential.
According to Musk, the concept involves setting up a facility on the lunar surface that would build satellites tailored to support next-level AI systems. Instead of relying on traditional rocket launches, he proposed using a “mass driver” to send those satellites into space more efficiently. The bigger picture, he said, is to unlock a scale of computing power that simply isn’t possible on Earth today (via NY Times).
Musk admitted that it’s tough to even imagine how intelligence operating at that magnitude would think, but he described the prospect of seeing it unfold as nothing short of “exciting”. The idea came shortly after Musk revealed plans to combine xAI with SpaceX, linking artificial intelligence work directly with rockets and space tech.
While he didn’t provide dates or a step-by-step roadmap, he made it clear that shifting computing power off Earth is part of the company’s bigger vision. SpaceX has long had its eyes on Mars, with Musk frequently talking about turning humanity into a multiplanetary species. This time, however, he framed the moon as the first stop.
He spoke about creating a “self-sustaining city on the moon” as a launchpad before pushing onward to Mars and beyond. Still, two former SpaceX executives told The New York Times that the moon hasn’t typically ranked high on the company’s priority list, even though Musk has recently increased his posts about lunar ambitions on X.
