Elon Musk addressed employees of xAI in an all-hands meeting on Tuesday night, shifting focus from artificial intelligence development to an ambitious vision for the moon. According to The New York Times, which reported on the meeting, Musk told staff that xAI needs a lunar manufacturing facility — a moon-based factory to build AI-powered satellites and launch them into orbit using a massive catapult. He argued that such a setup would unlock unprecedented computing power, enabling an intelligence far beyond any existing system. “You have to go to the moon,” Musk said, adding that the scale of such an intelligence is hard to imagine but “incredibly exciting.” The announcement comes amid significant internal changes at xAI. Just a day before the meeting, co-founder Tony Wu announced his departure. Less than 24 hours later, Jimmy Ba, another co-founder and direct report to Musk, also left. That brings the total number of founding members to leave the company to six out of 12. While all exits have been described as amicable, the rapid turnover raises questions about the company’s stability, especially as it nears a potential IPO. The merger of xAI and SpaceX is also advancing, with a SpaceX IPO reportedly targeting a $1.5 trillion valuation as early as this summer. Musk acknowledged the company’s rapid pace, stating that “when you’re moving faster than anyone else in any given technology arena, you will be the leader,” and that xAI is “moving faster than any other company — no one’s even close.” He also noted that some individuals are better suited for early-stage innovation than for scaling a company — a subtle but telling comment on the leadership changes. The moon has become a new focal point for Musk, marking a significant pivot from SpaceX’s long-standing focus on Mars. Just days before the Super Bowl, Musk announced that SpaceX would shift its attention to building a self-sustaining city on the moon, arguing it could be achieved in half the time it would take to reach Mars. This represents a dramatic departure from SpaceX’s 24-year history, which has never included a lunar mission. While investors may find orbital data centers more compelling than distant planetary colonies, some insiders believe the moon ambitions are central to Musk’s broader AI vision. A venture capitalist familiar with xAI’s strategy explained that Musk has been assembling a unique data ecosystem across his companies: Tesla provides real-world energy and road data, Neuralink offers insights into human brain activity, the Boring Company contributes underground infrastructure data, and now, a moon factory could supply proprietary physical and spatial data from space. However, the feasibility and legality of such a plan remain uncertain. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits any nation or company from claiming ownership of the moon. A 2015 U.S. law allows companies to own resources they extract, but scholars like Mary-Jane Rubenstein caution that this distinction is semantic — extracting materials from the moon doesn’t erase its status as a shared celestial body. Countries like China and Russia have not recognized this legal framework, further complicating the path forward. For now, Musk’s moon ambitions remain largely theoretical. But with a shrinking team and a growing public profile, the question isn’t just whether the moon factory can be built — it’s whether the company can keep moving fast enough to make it happen.