Key facts
- Elon Musk is considering acquiring Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineers.
- Mesh Optical develops hardware for fast data center communications.
- The Federal Trade Commission expedited its antitrust review of the potential acquisition.
- Mesh Optical raised $50 million in a Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital in February.
- The startup's co-founders previously developed optical communication links for SpaceX's Starlink satellites.
Elon Musk is reportedly pursuing the acquisition of Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup established by three former SpaceX engineers. The company specializes in developing hardware designed for rapid data center communications. The potential deal has received expedited approval from the Federal Trade Commission following an antitrust review, as first reported by Bloomberg.
Mesh Optical emerged from stealth in February, announcing it had secured $50 million in Series A funding, with Thrive Capital leading the investment. The startup's co-founders, Travis Brashears, Cameron Ramos, and Serena Grown-Haeberli, were instrumental in developing the optical communication links that facilitate connectivity among thousands of SpaceX's Starlink satellites.
Recognizing the advantages of light-based hardware over traditional electrical systems for speed and energy efficiency, the Mesh co-founders aim to apply this technology to terrestrial data centers. SpaceX has recently expanded its data center operations by entering into agreements with companies like Anthropic, Google, and Reflection AI to provide compute capacity. Acquiring Mesh could potentially enhance the efficiency of SpaceX's data centers, both on Earth and in future space-based applications.