Musk clears FTC hurdle to acquire data center optics firm Mesh

Elon Musk is moving to acquire Mesh Optical Technologies after the Federal Trade Commission expedited its antitrust review of the proposed deal. The potential purchase, revealed in a regulatory filing, would bring a team of former SpaceX engineers back under Musk's corporate umbrella.

Mesh Optical was founded last year by Travis Brashears, Cameron Ramos, and Serena Grown-Haeberli. The trio previously developed the optical communication links that form the backbone of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation. Their new startup builds optical transceivers for terrestrial data centers, utilizing light-based hardware to transmit data faster and with far greater energy efficiency than traditional electrical systems.

The company emerged from stealth mode in February, announcing a $50 million Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital. This backing and the underlying technology position Mesh as a critical supplier in the escalating race to upgrade data center infrastructure for demanding artificial intelligence workloads.

For European investors and policymakers, the broader shift toward optical interconnects is a closely watched trend. Data centers powering AI models consume vast amounts of electricity, a reality that has prompted regulators in Brussels to push aggressively for greater energy efficiency in the digital sector. If light-based hardware proves commercially scalable, it could meaningfully alleviate the mounting strain on European power grids as AI adoption accelerates across the continent.

The acquisition also highlights a notable expansion of SpaceX's core business model. The newly public company has recently entered into agreements to provide compute capacity to Anthropic, Google, and open-source developer Reflection AI. These cloud computing contracts represent a substantial new revenue stream, transforming SpaceX from a purely aerospace and satellite entity into a significant infrastructure provider for the AI sector.

Integrating Mesh's technology directly into these operations would allow SpaceX to run its new AI data centers more efficiently, potentially lowering operating costs and increasing margins. While the immediate application is terrestrial, these optical systems could eventually be deployed in space-based data centers. This would further intertwine SpaceX's satellite internet network with its emerging role as a commercial AI computing powerhouse.