Elon Musk said a year ago that AI has no use at SpaceX. Now he's willing to pay $170k a head for AI engineers.
The company said in a job list published on July 11 that the new team will be "focused on solving complex data problems for our launch vehicles and spacecraft." SpaceX said the team will also support the company's satellite internet service, Starlink.
The listing said it was considering candidates with majors in computer science, data science, engineering, mathematics, or physics. It said that those without a degree could be considered if they had at least four years of professional experience in building software.
"Aerospace experience is not required to be successful here," the listing said, adding that candidates should have at least one year of experience in AI software engineering, full-stack development, and data science.
The company said its AI software engineers will be paid between $120,000 to $170,000 a year. This is on top of any company stock, stock options, or bonuses the engineer might receive.
SpaceX's latest AI recruitment efforts come as a surprise considering Musk's earlier remarks about AI and space travel. The billionaire said at the 27th annual Milken Institute Global Conference in May 2024 that SpaceX and Starlink " uses basically no AI."
"I mean, oddly enough, one of the areas where there's almost no AI used is space exploration," Musk said.
"I'm not against using it. We haven't seen a use for it," he added.
Musk said he had been asking AI questions about rocket engine design and electrochemistry but found the models "terrible at all those questions."
"So, there's still a long way to go," Musk said then.
But developments within the industry appear to have changed Musk's mind.
Last week, Musk's AI startup xAI launched the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 4. The SpaceX chief said during the presentation that Grok 4 is "smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously."
AI appears to be a key focus area for Musk and his various businesses, or what insiders call the " Muskonomy."
On Sunday, Musk said his EV company, Tesla will hold a shareholder vote on whether to invest in xAI. Musk did not specify when exactly the vote will take place. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that SpaceX was eyeing a $2 billion investment into xAI.
"It's not up to me. If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago," Musk wrote in an X post on Sunday night.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
E&E News
2 hours ago
- E&E News
Enviros appeal permit for Musk's xAI turbines
Environmental justice groups are appealing the decision by Memphis-area regulators to issue a Clean Air Act permit to Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company. The Shelby County, Tennessee, Health Department issued a permit to xAI for 15 methane gas turbines earlier this month. The permit came after months of the company operating as many as 35 of the machines at its South Memphis facility without a permit or any pollution controls on the turbines. Environmental and community groups had argued that the Health Department should have shut down xAI rather than issue a permit. In officially appealing the permit, the groups now say that the Health Department's decision failed to address the unpermitted turbines at the facility and ignored public comments raising concerns about the generators. Advertisement 'The health department failed to hold xAI accountable for unlawfully installing 35 polluting methane gas turbines at the site before getting a permit, setting a dangerous precedent that opens the door for xAI or other companies to run any number of new polluting turbines at any time without any public oversight or approval,' said Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Amanda Garcia. The xAI permitting decision came just a couple of weeks before the Department of Defense announced a new $200 million contract with the company behind Musk's chatbot, Grok. The company has already started work to bring its supercomputer to a second site in South Memphis. Documents have shown that xAI is considering using 40 to 90 gas turbines to power the second site, and on Tuesday, xAI Senior Manager for Infrastructure Brent Mayo told the Rotary Club of Memphis that when it comes to powering its second facility, 'we are copying and pasting what we did' at the first location. When xAI first came to Memphis in June 2024, it initially argued that it did not require any permits for the methane gas turbines that would power its supercomputer. The company said the gas-burning turbines were only temporary and too small to require Clean Air Act permits, even as the SELC calculated that the turbines had cumulatively become the largest emitter of smog-forming pollution in the county. The Health Department, in its response to comments on the permit application, agreed. Gas turbines are seen outside the xAI data center May 7 in Memphis, Tennessee. | George Walker IV/AP Now, the SELC's appeal says the fact that xAI ultimately applied for Clean Air Act permits for the same machines shows that they required permits from the beginning. What's more, they say that because the turbines had already been running for months before a permit was issued, the Health Department should have considered the data center's application as a major modification, not as a new minor source of pollution. The SELC filed its appeal on behalf of community groups and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which had previously told xAI it intended to sue the company over its operation of the turbines without a permit just a few miles from majority-Black neighborhoods. The appeal itself discusses the impact that xAI's turbines have had on people living near the facility in an area that EPA had already designated as having unhealthy air due to smog-forming emissions before the company's arrival. 'Appellants members and supporters have taken steps to reduce their exposure to air pollution, including avoiding spending as much time outdoors as they would ordinarily, wearing masks when outside, and closing windows when home,' the appeal says, adding that people's 'quality of life is negatively affected by the precautions they feel compelled to take to reduce their exposure to air pollution.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
US CFTC begins staff firings, agency source says
By Chris Prentice (Reuters) -The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday began staff firings that are expected to affect over two dozen people, according to an agency source, after the Supreme Court last week cleared the way for mass government firings. Employees from the CFTC's enforcement, market oversight, administration and data divisions are expected to be affected as part of a more general reorganization at the regulator, the source said. Trump, until recently alongside his now former special adviser Elon Musk, had called for a reshaping of the federal government workforce including a purge of workers. The CFTC had 636 full-time equivalent staff positions in fiscal 2025, according to an agency report. The regulator has also recently reduced significant numbers of staff through a series of voluntary resignation programs that were also offered in other agencies. Under acting Chair Caroline Pham, a Republican, the agency has rolled out a series of changes, including reorganizing its enforcement division. Solve the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Rigetti shakes up quantum computing with bold advance
Quantum computing is arguably entering its make-or-break era. It's no longer an experiment, with tech giants, startups, and national governments shelling out billions to crack problems traditional computers struggle with. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Moreover, it's not about who's the loudest, but who's the most consistent. Progress is gauged in terms of qubits, fidelity gains, and architectures that don't break. Naturally, once the hype settles, investors will separate the wheat from the chaff in the quantum computing space. However, just as some thought momentum might stall, one quantum computing stock quietly surged, stunning everyone in the process. Image source: Weiss/Getty Images Quantum computing may sound like sci‑fi to many, but it's already flipping the script on the world's toughest problems. By simultaneously harnessing qubits representing 0 and 1, algorithms that once took millennia can finish in seconds. These qubits allow quantum computers to efficiently crunch far more possibilities at the same time. It's all thanks to crazy quantum effects like superposition and entanglement. The catch, though, is that they're super sensitive. Even the slightest of errors can wreck results. That's exactly why gate fidelity comes in, which serves as a score of how clean and accurate each operation is. Related: Elon Musk's xAI pushes Grok into Palantir territory Greater fidelity means lower error rates and a more useful output. Lowering error rates also cuts through the need for heavy error correction, so you gain greater power from the same hardware. Each jump in fidelity turns a theoretical promise into a practical possibility, reminding everyone how swiftly the quantum era is accelerating. And despite the early‑stage risks, the market is set for massive long-term expansion. McKinsey's latest quantum technology monitor forecasts the sector to hit $100 billion within a decade, led by hardware advances and quantum‑as‑a‑service models. From supercharging drug‑discovery simulations to optimizing supply chains, quantum applications efficiently cover every corner of business and science. Nonetheless, the challenges remain. Qubit stability, cryogenic cooling expenses, and error‑correction costs still pose a hurdle to widespread deployment. More Tech Stock News: Elon Musk's xAI is already shockingly massiveCathie Wood drops bold message on Apple, Tesla stockUnsung AI stock pops after joining S&P 500 Every step forward in fidelity and architecture chips away at those barriers, though, bringing real quantum advantage even closer. Rigetti Computing (RGTI) just gave its investors a new reason to pay attention. It announced a head-turning 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on its modular 36-qubit system, a critical step that cuts error rates by 50% compared to its earlier 84-qubit Ankaa-3 chip. That 99.5% figure isn't just a figure, but a key signal to the quantum space that Rigetti's modular approach is working. Wall Street got the message, with Rigetti stock jumping 30% Wednesday, trading at $16.56. The breakthrough system is built on four 9-qubit "chiplets," using Rigetti's tailor-made modular chip architecture. Related: JPMorgan reveals 9 stocks with major problems It's the company's latest effort in developing larger and more robust quantum machines. Rigetti is looking to launch the 36-qubit platform publicly on August 15. That launch serves as both a product debut and validation as the company looks toward a more ambitious goal of a 100+ qubit modular system delivering the same high-fidelity performance. A lot of it is about timing, too, as Rigetti previously set this mid-year milestone, and hitting its target boosts confidence in its 2025 roadmap. If it can achieve a 100+ qubit platform by the end of next year, that's likely to be a major leap in an industry where decoherence and error rates often slow real-world adoption. It would also help Rigetti close the performance gap with better-funded rivals like IBM and IonQ. It also raises the stakes for commercial traction. High-fidelity qubits are critical in running longer algorithms and solving critical problems that matter to enterprise users. For now, Rigetti's progress gives it new credibility in a race where results are now driving investor confidence. Related: Popular AI stock tanks after surprise tariff hit The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
