Elon Musk Denies Report of SpaceX AI Phone Prototype

Elon Musk has forcefully denied a recent report claiming that SpaceX developed a prototype for an AI-powered smartphone. Calling the story “utterly false,” Musk took to social media to refute the claims made by The Wall Street Journal, which alleged that SpaceX showed a “handset-like prototype” to potential investors ahead of its record-breaking June initial public offering.

According to the Journal, the purported device was described as “slimmer than an iPhone” and would have run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. The report further suggested the phone would feature an AI-enabled operating system powered by xAI, a company also owned by Musk. These details, however, have been completely dismissed by the SpaceX founder.

The denial comes amid swirling speculation about SpaceX’s ambitions in the mobile sector. Just last week, the Financial Times reported that SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell told investors the company is exploring the launch of a mobile service in the US that would leverage its Starlink satellite network. Some analysts have even floated the possibility of SpaceX acquiring T-Mobile to accelerate such a move. Notably, Starlink remains SpaceX’s only profitable business unit.

Musk has historically been reluctant to enter the smartphone market. At an event in Pennsylvania last year, he remarked, “the idea of making a phone makes me want to die,” though he added a caveat: “if we have to make a phone, we will, but we will aspire not to make a phone.” In February, after Reuters reported that SpaceX was working on a phone for Starlink, Musk explicitly stated the company is “not developing a phone.”