ELON Musk is set to put artificial intelligence bots into orbit in the style of classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey after merging two of his firms.
The billionaire’s XAI firm is being acquired by SpaceX in a deal that puts the combined group’s value at around $1.25trillion (£910billion).
Announcing the move, Musk said it would be “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet” and the X social media platform.
SpaceX will take control of xAI’s Grok chatbot and X itself, which xAI bought in an all-stock deal last year. The deal could make it the world’s most valuable private firm.
The merger is also a warm-up act for a possible stock market listing.
Insiders expect it to be timed for early summer, a period Musk has hinted may coincide with a planetary alignment and his June 28 birthday.
The key rationale for Musk’s push is to power future artificial intelligence with solar-supplied computing in orbit.
He argues that current giant land-based datacentres demand too much electricity and cooling, and that “in the long term, space-based AI is the only way to scale”.
It could still attract regulatory and investor scrutiny over governance and conflicts of interest, given tycoon Musk’s overlapping roles.
GROCERY INFLATION FALL
GROCERY price inflation eased back to 4 per cent in January — its lowest level since April 2025 — to offer some relief for households, stats show.
The fall from December’s 4.3 per cent came as spending on supermarket own label goods accounted for a record 52.2 per cent of grocery sales.
Spending on products on promotion jumped 10.9 per cent year on year — the fastest growth since October 2024 — while full-price sales rose just 1.7 per cent.
Among retailers, Lidl’s sales grew fastest in-store by 10.1 per cent.
BARR DOUBLE
IRN-BRU maker AG Barr has bought two soft drink rivals Fentimans and Frobishers Juices in deals of more than £50million.
The Scottish firm unveiled the acquisitions as it reported a strong financial year, with increases in sales and profitability.
It said annual revenues rose to around £437million — up 4 per cent — and earnings were also helped by ongoing cost savings and investment in its supply chain.
2% DEPOSITS
SANTANDER have launched a first-time buyer mortgage with a 2 per cent deposit — but only on homes worth £500,000-plus.
The “My First Mortgage” deal offers a five-year fixed rate of 5.19 per cent, and comes with no product fee.
However, borrowers still have to be able to put down at least £10,000.
Terms run from five to 40 years, and buyers get £250 cashback on completion.
