FTC Approves Musk's Acquisition of Mesh Optical Technologies

Elon Musk has obtained federal approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to acquire Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup established by three former SpaceX engineers: Travis Brashears, Cameron Ramos, and Serena Grown-Haeberli. Mesh is focused on developing hardware for fast data center communications using optical technology.

The FTC expedited its antitrust review, allowing Musk to proceed with the acquisition. Mesh Optical emerged from stealth mode in February 2023, announcing a $50 million Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital.

The co-founders previously created optical communication links for SpaceX's Starlink satellites and aim to adapt this technology for terrestrial data centers, which could significantly enhance data transmission speed and energy efficiency. This acquisition aligns with SpaceX's strategy to expand its business into AI infrastructure and data center services, as the company has recently entered agreements with Anthropic, Google, and Reflection AI.

SpaceX is now valued at over $2.9 trillion and is looking to improve its data center capabilities.