FTC Fast-Tracks Clearance, Regulatory Hurdle Removed
According to a recent FTC filing, Elon Musk has obtained antitrust clearance to acquire optical networking startup Mesh Optical Technologies. The FTC completed a swift antitrust review without challenging the transaction on competitive grounds, removing the major regulatory barrier to closing the deal. It remains undisclosed whether the transaction has been signed or closed.
Mesh Optical: Optical Communication Built by Former SpaceX Engineers
Mesh was founded by former SpaceX engineers. Its core product, optical transceivers for AI data centers, improves energy efficiency, reduces latency, and enhances reliability compared to traditional network hardware, meeting the million-level optical connection demands from scaling AI compute clusters. The founding team previously contributed to the laser communication system for SpaceX's Starlink satellite network and plans to deploy optical technology in space for inter-satellite links in orbital data centers and AI satellite networks. In February, Mesh closed a $50M+ funding round led by Thrive Capital.
SpaceX's AI Ambitions: From Colossus to Terafab
The Mesh acquisition is part of SpaceX's broader push to strengthen large-scale compute clusters. SpaceX has made AI compute a core business segment. Its xAI unit operates the Colossus and Colossus II training clusters with a combined ~1GW capacity, making it the first company to deploy a coherent gigawatt-scale AI training cluster. Colossus II will add over 400MW of compute and more than 220,000 GB300 chips. Compute agreements have been signed with Anthropic, Google, and Reflection AI, directly competing with hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and GCP. Additionally, SpaceX has partnered with Tesla and Intel this year on the Terafab chip manufacturing initiative, extending vertical integration into chip design and production.
Market Reaction: Stock Pulls Back from Peak
SpaceX's stock ended its recent uptrend in the past week, closing at $153.23 per share, down over 32% from its all-time high of $225.64. Markets have been lukewarm on the acquisition news, with investors focused on profitability and integration progress of the AI compute business.