SpaceX Eyes Failed Startups' Data for AI Model Fuel

SpaceX's AI unit, SpaceXAI, has been discussing buying customer and operational data from failed startups to train its model Grok. This approach echoes Google's $10 million bankruptcy-auction win for Spirit Airlines' business records in a similar effort to acquire valuable training data.

The discussions are informal and might go nowhere, but the goal is to get cheap fuel for Grok, an AI model that learns from training data. The good stuff, real business records instead of scraped web pages, is getting expensive, and a dead company's file cabinet is apparently a bargain by comparison.

Musk told employees in August that the company would train Grok on the entirety of SpaceX's internal records, stating 'It will inherit your thoughts,' effectively absorbing who they are. This move marks an expansion beyond buying outside data, with Musk noting the model would be used to understand how real businesses actually run.