Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) recently showed investors a prototype of an artificial intelligence device, described as a "handheld terminal-like device" that aims to reshape the way humans interact with artificial intelligence. Some people believe that this trend means that SpaceX may try to compete with Apple at the device and platform levels in the future.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the device is slimmer than the iPhone, and the overall design emphasizes "streamline" and fashion. The device runs a self-developed proprietary operating system, equipped with Qualcomm chips, and deeply integrates related technologies from xAI, an artificial intelligence company owned by SpaceX. The report also pointed out that the equipment concept presented to investors by SpaceX this time continues to a certain extent the "American version of WeChat" that Musk has mentioned many times before - a one-stop "everything app" similar to China's WeChat.
The background for SpaceX's display of prototype equipment is that the company is about to launch an initial public offering (IPO), and the relevant demonstrations are aimed at investors and stakeholders. The company emphasized that the project is still in the early development stage, and the appearance and functionality of the final mass-produced version may undergo major adjustments. It's unclear whether the device will eventually make it to the consumer market, and there's no official information on a release timeline.
Musk has publicly discussed the possibility of designing a smartphone in the past, tying it to the fate of social platform X (formerly Twitter). He has said that if Apple removed the X from the App Store, he would consider developing a phone of his own. In November 2025, Musk talked about this topic again, saying that he did not want to make a mobile phone, but if Apple and Google "did very bad things" on issues such as content review, he and his companies would be forced to intervene. In a town hall-style meeting, Musk even bluntly said that the idea of making a mobile phone "makes him want to die" but that one of his companies will still launch a mobile phone product if necessary.
However, just earlier this year, Musk made it clear that SpaceX is not developing a phone. Although the Wall Street Journal quoted some SpaceX and Tesla investors as saying that Musk has long envisioned a device that could serve as a unifying platform for Tesla, SpaceX and xAI technologies. In the face of relevant reports, Musk himself denied them on social platforms, calling such claims "completely false."