Elon Musk may be making a Starlink mobile device with satellite connectivity, but it’s not a phone

Many tech fans have been complaining about how boring smartphones have become recently. The vast majority of the phones people use are slabs of glass and metal that differ mostly in size and specs. While that seems more than enough, there’s no shortage of people who want to challenge the idea, including Elon Musk.

SpaceX may be developing a Starlink mobile device

SpaceX is reportedly developing its own mobile device, according to three separate sources cited by Reuters. The company’s goal is to launch a device that connects to the Starlink satellite internet constellation and challenge smartphones.There are no further details about what that device may look like, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied the initial report that it will be a smartphone. “We are not developing a phone,” he said in a post on X. However, he didn’t deny there’s a device in the making.

Not a smartphone

SpaceX already partners with T-Mobile to provide connectivity to some mobile devices. | Image Credit – T-Mobile

While there are no leaks about the SpaceX mobile device, Elon Musk has previously said that a Starlink phone is not out of the question. Answering a suggestion on X, he said that such a device would be very different from current phones. “Optimized purely for running max performance/watt neural nets,” he said, referring to the hardware that runs modern AI models.
Musk’s words suggest that his idea is to make a device capable of running AI models locally. That makes sense, considering SpaceX just acquired Musk’s AI startup xAI, which is behind the chatbot Grok. Launching a device that could serve as an access point to both Starlink and Grok only makes sense.

That won’t be the first time SpaceX dabbles with mobile connectivity. The company already partnered with T-Mobile in the US to provide Starlink internet connectivity directly into phones on the carrier’s network.

Another AI device?

SpaceX and xAI are far from being the only companies with the ambition to make an AI-first device. OpenAI is partnering with Jony Ive for the development of a mysterious device, and Apple is reportedly considering launching an AI pin. I’m not overly excited about any of those, especially after the flop of the Humane AI Pin. Of course, I’m open for the Grok non-phone to prove me wrong.

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Ilia, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, has been covering the mobile industry since 2011, with experience at outlets like Forbes Bulgaria. Passionate about smartphones, tablets, and consumer tech, he blends deep industry knowledge with a personal fascination that began with his first Nokia and Sony Ericsson devices. Originally from Bulgaria and now based in Lima, Peru, Ilia balances his tech obsessions with walking his dog, training at the gym, and slowly mastering Spanish.

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