A former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official said regulators could examine whether Tesla would receive exclusive access to Starlink and other SpaceX technologies if the companies combined.
The former official acknowledged potential efficiency gains from combining firms at separate supply-chain levels, while warning that exclusive access could disadvantage competing EV and autonomous-driving makers and invite a regulatory challenge.
The merger remains uncertain. Reuters reported that SpaceX approached Tesla in recent weeks and that preliminary discussions had considered a SpaceX purchase of Tesla, a new parent company for both businesses or a stock-based transaction. Tesla, SpaceX and Musk did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, according to that report.
At a SpaceX third-quarter webcast on Oct. 20, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said independent director committees had not settled on terms and that a merger was not assured. EconoTimes previously covered Musk’s comments on possible cooperation between the companies.
