SpaceX has initiated internal discussions regarding the acquisition of operational and customer data from defunct or financially struggling startups. These negotiations, which commenced on September 17, 2026, remain in the preliminary and non-binding phase. The company intends to utilize this information to enhance the training pipeline for its Grok AI model family.
The market for such datasets is currently active, with codebases from failed ventures typically valued between $10 000 and $60 000. This strategy follows recent industry trends, such as Alphabet's $10 million bid for data from Spirit Airlines. SpaceX previously merged with xAI in February 2026 and acquired the AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in June 2026.
SpaceX manages the Colossus and Colossus II data centers, which possess a combined computing capacity exceeding 1 GW. The company generates significant revenue from this infrastructure, with Anthropic reportedly paying SpaceX $1,25 billion monthly for access to these resources.
