TSLA Stock Shows Signs Of Rebound — But Influencers Debate Whether Musk Needs SpaceXAI To Win AI Race

• Tesla influencer DoctorJack16 said that investors may be underestimating how important SpaceX, Starlink and xAI infrastructure could become to Tesla.
• Another influencer, Cern Basher, said many Tesla bulls oppose a merger because they believe Robotaxi and Optimus could still generate massive standalone upside.
• Both investors said that Tesla could eventually rely on Starlink connectivity, Grok integration and orbital AI.

Shares of Tesla Inc. (TSLA) led gains among “Magnificent Seven” stocks on Thursday as investors speculated whether CEO Elon Musk ultimately needs a “SpaceXAI” ecosystem to compete against the fast-paced AI goals of Nvidia, Google and Meta Platforms.

TSLA stock jumped more than 3% on Thursday, outperforming Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta, which gained between 1% and 2%. The stock is also on track for its second straight weekly gain, signaling signs of a rebound for the second-worst performer among the “Mag 7” group. 

Tesla Bulls Weigh SpaceXAI’s AI Advantage

The talks gained traction after Tesla influencer DoctorJack16, who has more than 62,000 followers on X, published a post titled “SpaceX Will Rob Tesla?” arguing that investors may be underestimating how important SpaceX, Starlink and xAI infrastructure could become to Tesla’s long-term AI ambitions.

Separately, Tesla influencer Cern Basher, chief investment officer at Brilliant Advice, said on X that while many Tesla bulls oppose a merger today, the AI race may eventually force Tesla deeper into Musk’s broader tech ecosystem.

The talks come as Musk expands SpaceX’s ambitions beyond rockets and satellites into AI infrastructure and large-scale processing. Earlier in the week, Musk said xAI would no longer operate as a separate company and would instead integrate into SpaceX under the “SpaceXAI” banner. The move followed reports involving Anthropic and SpaceX’s Colossus 1 AI supercomputer cluster in Memphis, which contains over 220,000 Nvidia GPUs. The Anthropic arrangement came weeks after xAI entered a similar infrastructure-sharing agreement with AI coding startup Cursor.

Robotaxi And Optimus Debate Intensifies

Cern Basher said many Tesla shareholders oppose a merger because they believe Robotaxi and Optimus are still in the early innings of what could become massive value creation opportunities for Tesla alone.

“The main reason given for Tesla not merging with SpaceXAI is goes something like: ‘Robotaxi hasn't ramped yet. Tesla stock could 5X. I'm here for the ramp. Optimus hasn't ramped either. Tesla could 10x. Let's give it a few years. I don't want to give my upside to SpaceXAI shareholders who just enjoyed a 4.4X since last summer’,” Basher said.

While acknowledging that the argument “sounds” reasonable, Basher said that the AI race may be accelerating too quickly for Tesla to wait several years before integrating Musk’s broader ecosystem of companies. “AI waits for no one,” he said.

Basher also questioned whether Tesla’s competitive advantages in Robotaxi and humanoid robotics are secure over the long term as Nvidia, Google and Meta aggressively ramp up AI spending, chips and infrastructure investments.

“How durable is Tesla's Robotaxi moat? Honest answer: I believe it's strong, but we just don't know,” Basher said. “How durable is Tesla's Optimus moat? Honest answer: I believe Tesla is extremely well positioned, but again, we just don't know.”

He also raised concerns about Tesla potentially becoming constrained by AI infrastructure, semiconductors and regulation. Basher also warned that Tesla’s valuation could eventually suffer if the company cannot secure enough semiconductor capacity to scale Cybercab production and Optimus deployments globally.

Tesla’s Chip And Infrastructure Risks In Focus

Basher additionally said that Tesla could eventually rely on infrastructure and services from a broader “SpaceXAI” platform, including Starlink connectivity, Grok integration and orbital AI compute infrastructure.

The investor suggested that Starlink could become important for global connectivity across Tesla vehicles, Semi trucks and Optimus robots, while Grok could evolve into the conversational interface for Robotaxi and the operating intelligence behind Optimus. He also pointed to orbital AI data centers as potential advantages.

“So Tesla shareholders may think they are avoiding dilution by rejecting a merger,” Basher said. “But they may simply be choosing a different kind of dilution: permanent economic leakage.” He argued that SpaceXAI could eventually collect revenue from Robotaxi usage, Grok-powered Optimus deployments, Starlink connectivity and fleet-level inference systems tied to Tesla’s AI ecosystem.

SpaceXAI Could Monetize Tesla’s AI Ecosystem

Meanwhile, DoctorJack16 said that SpaceX itself is evolving into a “space-internet/AI infrastructure/planet colonizing giant,” fueled by Starlink, Starship and future orbital computing systems.

DoctorJack16 highlighted rising Starlink revenue, Starshield defense contracts, direct-to-cell satellite initiatives and long-term plans involving orbital AI processing and space-based data centers. He also referenced growing competition among big tech firms, arguing that companies like Google, Meta, Apple and Nvidia now view space infrastructure and energy access as critical to the future of AI.

Tesla has not announced any merger plans involving SpaceX or xAI, and Musk has not publicly proposed a merger between Tesla and SpaceX. Still, overlap between Tesla, xAI, Grok, Starlink, Robotaxi and Optimus is increasingly becoming a major discussion point among Tesla retail investors.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About TSLA And SpaceX?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for TSLA was ‘bullish’ and for SpaceX was ‘neutral,’ both amid ‘normal’ message volume.

One user believes TSLA is “heading to 500 in a couple of weeks.”

Meanwhile, several traders are actively tracking the $420 target for TSLA.

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