Musk: SpaceX AI to Outperform Rockets by September, Trained on Staff
Elon Musk made two significant claims during a recent all-hands meeting at SpaceX:
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AI Revenue Leadership: Musk stated that AI revenue will surpass all other sales categories by next month (September).
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Staff as Training Data: He also revealed that SpaceX’s AI, named Grok, will be trained on the company’s internal information, including data from its employees.
The Numbers and Implications
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Revenue Comparison: As of Q2 2026, SpaceX reported $7.81 billion in revenue, with AI contributing $2.56 billion. Connectivity and space products generated $4.29 billion and $962 million respectively. For AI to surpass the rest, it needs to more than double its contribution while other categories remain stagnant.
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Data Collection Concerns: The second claim raises privacy issues. SpaceX hasn’t specified which employee data will be used or how staff can opt out. This uncertainty follows Meta’s recent controversy with keystroke and mouse movement data collection for AI training, which led to privacy breaches across the company.
The AI Development and Goals
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AI Agents: SpaceX has launched Grok Bot, an AI agent that operates in cloud machines and interacts with apps to complete multi-step tasks, similar to human colleagues. Training such agents requires substantial data on actual human computer usage.
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Company Evolution: Since its June listing, SpaceXAI (formerly xAI) has demonstrated significant investments in AI, including the acquisition of Cursor for $60 billion and plans for data centers in space, reflecting its commitment to this technology.
Conclusion: A Complex Future
While Grok’s performance lags behind OpenAI and Anthropic, Musk’s vision is ambitious. He promises that anyone at SpaceX who aspires to go to the moon or Mars will have the opportunity to do so, emphasizing his personal guarantee. However, the success of this strategy hinges on effective data collection and ethical considerations regarding employee privacy.