Musk Denies WSJ Report That SpaceX Is Developing an ‘AI Phone’

A report surfaced that SpaceX is developing a smartphone-like artificial intelligence device. Elon Musk swiftly denied it.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 1 that SpaceX showed some investors a prototype AI device on June 12 ahead of a planned listing. Investors described the phone-shaped device as thinner and sleeker than Apple’s iPhone. The report said it would use its own operating system, integrate xAI’s AI technology and run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.

If launched, the device could create synergies with Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite communications business. SpaceX uses Starlink’s low-Earth-orbit satellites to provide internet access in remote parts of the world. It could also reduce the company’s reliance on mobile-device makers such as Apple. Musk has argued that xAI’s Grok model has been treated unfairly in Apple’s App Store. In August last year, he filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging the company was preventing AI firms other than OpenAI from reaching the top spot in the App Store. xAI argued that Apple was using its dominance of the App Store to support the monopoly of its partner, OpenAI.

Musk rejected the Journal report soon afterward, writing on X that it was “completely false.” In February, after Reuters reported that the company was making a phone that would connect directly to Starlink, he denied that as well, saying he was not developing a phone. Still, Musk said in October last year that he would make a phone if necessary. In January this year, he said he could not rule out the possibility of a Starlink phone one day.

Kim In-yeop, Silicon Valley correspondent, Hankyung.com, inside@hankyung.com