Elon Musk reopens phone talk, says a ‘very different’ AI-first device is possible

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has once again stirred speculation about entering the smartphone market with an AI-first smartphone. The discussion about the smartphone started after Sam D’Amico, CEO of Impulse Labs posted a social media platform X (formerly Twitter) suggesting Meta and Space should make smartphones. When Hyperstition founder Andrew Côté chimed in that a “Starlink phone would be so sick,” Musk responded: “Not out of the question at some point,” adding that such a device would be “a very different device than current phones,” optimized for “maximum performance/watt neural nets.”

The remarks made by Musk align with his broader prediction that traditional smartphones are nearing obsolescence. On The Joe Rogan Experience in October 2025, Musk said phones could lose apps, operating systems, and even their name within five to six years, replaced by AI-powered “edge nodes” that act as bridges to more powerful server-based intelligence.




Despite the speculation, Musk has repeatedly expressed reluctance about making a phone. At a Pennsylvania town hall in October 2024, he said: “The idea of making a phone makes me want to die,” calling it a massive undertaking. He reiterated on Rogan’s podcast that Tesla could build a phone but would only do so if Apple or Google began censoring apps or acting as gatekeepers.

Musk first floated the idea of a phone in 2022 after acquiring Twitter (now X), amid concerns about app store access.

The renewed phone speculation comes as SpaceX reportedly weighs a tie-up with Tesla and Musk’s AI startup xAI. Internal discussions have pointed to a possible merger ahead of a planned SpaceX IPO as early as June, targeting a valuation of about $1.5 trillion. Such a move would instantly make SpaceX one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies.



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