Elon Musk told employees at xAI, his artificial intelligence company, on Tuesday evening that the company would need a factory on the moon to manufacture A.I. satellites — along with a massive catapult to launch them into space — according to a report by The New York Times.
Inspired by the billionaire’s long-standing fascination with science fiction, the proposed space catapult would be known as a “mass driver” and would form part of a futuristic lunar facility designed to produce satellites capable of delivering the computing power required for xAI’s artificial intelligence systems.
You have to go to the moon,
Mr. Musk said during an all-hands meeting attended by employees and heard by The New York Times. Such a move, he argued, would allow xAI to harness more power than rival companies in its pursuit of advanced A.I., the newspaper reported.
He added that while it is difficult to imagine what an intelligence operating at that scale would ultimately contemplate,
it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see it happen,
according to the leading U.S. media outlet.
The comments follow Mr. Musk’s announcement last week that he was merging xAI with his rocket company, SpaceX, in an effort to accelerate plans for building A.I. data centers in outer space. The newly outlined vision now extends beyond orbital infrastructure to include a full-scale lunar manufacturing facility. However, during the hourlong meeting — which also included remarks from other executives — Mr. Musk did not provide details on how such a complex undertaking might be constructed.
Mr. Musk’s renewed emphasis on the moon marks a shift in tone. Since founding SpaceX in 2002, he has consistently framed the company’s primary mission as making humanity multiplanetary, beginning with the establishment of a colony on Mars. In recent months, however, he has increasingly used X, his social media platform, to highlight a new strategic focus: the moon.
During Tuesday’s remarks, Mr. Musk described the lunar initiative as a critical steppingstone toward Mars. The company would first build “a self-sustaining city on the moon,” he said, before expanding to Mars and eventually venturing farther into star systems in search of extraterrestrial life.
Material by Iva Abadjievа
Image: Flickr/World Economic Forum / Ciaran McCrickard/edited-11-02-2026
