In the first week of December this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to social media to highlight the latest update launched by the AI company. The GPT-5.2 is reportedly a marked improvement over its predecessor, GPT-5.1, which was released about a month ago.
However, xAI CEO Elon Musk reposted an X post this week, highlighting that the productivity levels of Grok 4.2 were higher than those of GPT-5.2. Simultaneously, another new development could further intensify the ongoing rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman.
As per a recent report, there is a higher chance that Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, could surpass OpenAI by the end of 2025 as the most valuable private organisation across the globe. Having held the same title once already this year, reclaiming the same could be a pivotal development in xAI’s legacy as an AI company, as well as the market’s sentiments towards the dynamic innovations being made in artificial intelligence technology.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX set to attain $800 billion market cap
As per a December 14 report by Business Insider, OpenAI had organized a secondary share sale in October this year, setting the value at $500 billion. In the process, Sam Altman’s AI company surpassed Elon Musk’s SpaceX by $100 billion.
Given Musk’s competitive nature, the aerospace company’s CEO is reportedly considering to hold a secondary share sale as per “internal letter to employees seen by multiple outlets“, which would boost the company’s market capitalization to a massive $800 billion.
Simultaneously, Musk took to social media earlier this month to announce that “the company is exploring a blockbuster initial public offering.” The Business Insider report further mentioned that this plan “underscores a significant shift: investors are pouring unprecedented money into technologies once viewed as speculative science projects.”
SpaceX’s primary ambitions of colonizing Mars for humans to strive for an intergalactic way of life also feature the idea of human-like AI that would aid in the process. Today, these aspirations are being funded to become full-fledged projects, as observed in hefty AI investments. However, many read this as a possible factor complicating the relationship Elon Musk shares with Sam Altman.
Related: Elon Musk Believes Grok’s Latest Update Is Better Than GPT-5.2
SpaceX’s $800 billion record could intensify the Musk-Altman rivalry
Ever since Musk parted ways with OpenAI in February 2018, Sam Altman’s vision of artificial intelligence technology has often come at odds with Musk’s. Since the inception of xAI in 2023, Musk has been direct in his critique of OpenAI’s for-profit approach to the expansive utility of AI tools.
On top of that, xAI has been increasingly gaining prominence across the globe in terms of generative images and illustrations. The credibility that xAI has been able to establish all these years has contributed significantly to the progress made in AI research and development.
OpenAI, on the other hand, have their hands full as they continue to counter the likes of xAI, Claude AI, and Gemini. Nevertheless, Sam Altman’s leadership has led the company to achieve an annual revenue of roughly $20 billion, as per data available at the time of writing.
Simultaneously, they have racked up millions of users on a weekly basis, with a user base spanning across the world. Additionally, OpenAI’s collaboration with Microsoft as part of a major corporate restructuring appeared to positively affect the company’s growth.
Yet, Sam Altman’s recent aspirations of joining the rocket industry have been received by viewers as the OpenAI CEO following Musk’s footsteps. Although the reasons behind such a plan are yet to be confirmed, it does appear that Altman may not leave any stone unturned in order to establish his organizations as some of the largest in the market while also competing on equal footing with Musk’s companies.
However, if the secondary share sale by SpaceX is made official, this would create a huge impact not merely on the market itself, but also shift the scales in favor of Elon Musk.
Also Read: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Believes GPT-5.2 Is Smarter Than Claude AI, Gemini
