Elon Musk has received approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to acquire Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineers specializing in advanced optical communication hardware for data centers. The FTC expedited its antitrust review, signaling a swift clearance for the transaction.
Mesh Optical Technologies emerged from stealth mode in February 2026, announcing a $50 million Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital. The company’s co-founders, Travis Brashears, Cameron Ramos, and Serena Grown-Haeberli, previously developed optical communication links for SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. They identified an opportunity to apply their expertise to terrestrial data centers, aiming to enhance data transmission speeds and energy efficiency through light-based hardware solutions.
SpaceX has recently entered agreements with companies like Anthropic, Google, and the open-source AI developer Reflection AI to provide compute capacity at its data centers. This move has generated a substantial new revenue stream for the company. The acquisition of Mesh Optical Technologies is expected to further improve the efficiency of SpaceX’s data centers, both on Earth and potentially in space.
Integrating Mesh’s advanced optical transceivers could position SpaceX to offer more robust and efficient data center services, aligning with the growing demand for high-performance computing infrastructure. This strategic acquisition underscores Musk’s commitment to enhancing technological capabilities within his enterprises.
