Bytes: Week in Review - SpaceX and xAI merge, Nvidia and OpenAI's funding relationship and U.S. TikTok's rough start - marketplace-tech Recap

Podcast: marketplace-tech

Published: 2026-02-06

Duration: 10 minutes

Guests: Paresh Dave

Summary

SpaceX's acquisition of xAI consolidates Elon Musk's ventures under one roof, potentially boosting AI growth. NVIDIA's stalled investment in OpenAI and TikTok's new American version face challenges.

What Happened

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has acquired xAI, an artificial intelligence startup, creating a new entity valued at $1.25 trillion. This acquisition aims to provide xAI a stable financial environment within SpaceX's reportedly profitable operations, particularly leveraging the success of Starlink. The merger could facilitate Musk's vision of developing space-based data centers to power AI applications, though it hinges on the success of the Starship rocket, which has had mixed results so far.

SpaceX's potential IPO this year adds another layer of complexity, as it will now involve a profitable rocket company and a loss-making AI firm. Despite investor concerns about Musk's ability to manage multiple businesses, the consolidation is seen as a strategic move to streamline operations and possibly reduce distractions.

NVIDIA's plan to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI is reportedly on hold, with NVIDIA's CEO expressing concerns about OpenAI's business discipline and competition. However, OpenAI is expected to attract other investors, despite the potential impact on its valuation if the NVIDIA deal falls through.

NVIDIA remains committed to a strategic relationship with OpenAI, although not at the previously discussed investment level. This reflects NVIDIA's need to maintain good relations with multiple AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft, to sustain its growth in the data center and AI chip markets.

A newly established American version of TikTok, majority-owned by Oracle and investment firms MGX and Silverlake, faced significant service disruptions following a storm. These outages, attributed to Oracle's cloud infrastructure, frustrated users and highlighted potential challenges with the new venture's infrastructure choice.

Despite the rough start, the primary change for TikTok users is a new terms agreement allowing for greater data collection. This transition appears to have had little impact on user engagement, as many users remain unaware of the ownership change.

Key Insights