Microsoft and SpaceX’s Starlink partner on global internet effort
Elon Musk attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum assembly in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026.
Denis Balibouse | Reuters
Microsoft on Tuesday introduced a collaboration with SpaceX‘s starlink satellite tv for pc internet service to broaden connectivity the world over.
It’s an indication of the software program firm’s willingness to collaborate with tesla CEO Elon Musk‘s household of companies, because the world’s richest individual takes Microsoft partner OpenAI to courtroom.
“Through our collaboration with Starlink, Microsoft is combining low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity with community-based deployment models and local ecosystem partnerships,” Microsoft’s chief sustainability officer, Melanie Nakagawa, wrote in a blog post.
In alliance with Starlink and an internet service supplier in Kenya, Microsoft is working to attach 450 neighborhood hubs within the nation, Nakagawa wrote.
The work will add to demand for Musk’s space companywhich has contracts with the Department of Defense and NASA and might probably go public this 12 months.
In his case towards OpenAI CEO Sam AltmanMusk is trying to get well as a lot as $134 billion from the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation, which holds over $100 billion in fairness within the for-profit AI lab, in accordance with a January authorized submitting.
Musk cofounded OpenAI in 2015 together with a number of others, together with LinkedIn founder and Microsoft board member Reid Hoffman.
Musk has been crucial of Microsoft on its social community X and mentioned earlier this month that the corporate “has a responsibility to investigate“Hoffman’s affiliation with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Hoffman mentioned that he deeply regretted that he knew Epstein by a fundraising relationship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Earlier this month, Musk mentioned SpaceX was merging with his xAI startup that developed the Grok AI mannequin and chatbot that has been gaining traction as a platform of selection for tech functions.
Last 12 months, Microsoft mentioned its Foundry cloud software program for constructing AI-infused functions added support for Grok fashions.
Microsoft has been working to attach individuals with expertise for a few years, together with within the US
After setting a purpose in 2022 to carry the internet to over 250 million individuals earlier than the tip of 2025, it has prolonged protection to greater than 299 million individuals, Nakagawa wrote Tuesday.
