Elon Musk’s SpaceX has taken over his artificial intelligence company xAI in a merger aimed at deploying space-based data centres, a statement said on Monday.

The acquisition combines SpaceX’s rocket capabilities with xAI’s AI technology to create what Musk in the statement called “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth”.

The combined company is expected to ‌price shares at ‌about US$527 each and would have a valuation of US$1.25 trillion, Bloomberg News reported.

The deal was announced in a statement on SpaceX’s website signed by Musk and confirmed the Bloomberg report.

The merger would represent one of the most high-profit corporate pairings in Silicon Valley, blending a space-and-defence contractor with a rapidly evolving AI developer ‍whose costs are dominated by chips, data centres and energy.

SpaceX and the AI start-up were in ‌discussions to ⁠merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for later this year, Reuters had reported on Thursday, to bring Musk’s rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social ‌media platform and Grok AI chatbot under one roof.