FTC Clears Musk's Acquisition of SpaceX Alumni Startup Mesh

Elon Musk is poised to acquire Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup founded by three former SpaceX engineers last year to develop hardware for fast data center communications. The potential acquisition was revealed in a Federal Trade Commission filing and confirmed that the agency expedited its antitrust review. Mesh Optical emerged from stealth in February, announcing a $50 million Series A led by Thrive Capital.

The startup's co-founders, Travis Brashears, Cameron Ramos, and Serena Grown-Haeberberli, previously developed optical communication links for SpaceX's Starlink satellites. The Mesh co-founders saw an opportunity to develop optical transceivers for terrestrial data centers, as light-based hardware is faster and more energy-efficient than traditional electrical-based systems. SpaceX has recently entered into agreements with Anthropic, Google, and the open-source AI developer Reflection AI to provide them with compute capacity at its data centers, generating a substantial new revenue stream for the newly public company.

Acquiring Mesh could eventually allow SpaceX to improve the efficiency of its data centers, whether they are located on Earth or, in the future, in space. Why this matters: The acquisition of Mesh Optical Technologies by Elon Musk's SpaceX has significant implications for the data center and AI industries. With the increasing demand for high-performance computing and data storage, the development of fast and energy-efficient communication hardware is crucial.

By acquiring Mesh, SpaceX can enhance the efficiency of its data centers, which are being utilized by major AI players such as Anthropic and Google. This move also positions SpaceX to potentially expand its data center capabilities into space, further blurring the lines between terrestrial and satellite-based computing. As the demand for AI computing continues to grow, the integration of Mesh's technology into SpaceX's operations could provide a competitive edge in the market.

However, questions remain about how this acquisition will impact the broader data center and AI industries, and whether it will drive further innovation in the development of optical communication hardware.