Gwynne Shotwell

Force in Play

Key decision-maker in Starlink military policy

Ukraine's military has depended on Starlink satellite internet since the first week of Russia's 2022 invasion. On February 5, 2026, SpaceX flipped a switch that cut off Russian forces from that same network—collapsing command systems along the entire front line and halving the number of daily assault operations within hours.

Updated Feb 6

Money Moves

Overseeing day-to-day operations during merger integration

Elon Musk's SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence startup xAI in a $250 billion deal—the largest acquisition in corporate history, surpassing Vodafone's $203 billion purchase of Mannesmann in 2000. The combined entity is valued at $1.25 trillion, with SpaceX contributing $1 trillion and xAI $250 billion. The merger consolidates three of Musk's companies under one roof: SpaceX's rocket and satellite businesses, xAI's Grok chatbot and AI infrastructure, and X (formerly Twitter), which xAI absorbed in March 2025. Within days of the merger announcement, Musk began publicly articulating the orbital data center vision, appearing on the 'Cheeky Pint' podcast in early February 2026 to argue that solar panels produce five times more power in space than on Earth, making orbital AI infrastructure economically superior to terrestrial data centers by 2028.

Updated Feb 6