Billionaire Elon Musk isn't backing away from what might sound like science fiction: putting solar-powered AI datacenter satellites into orbit. During a podcast conversation with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath on Sunday, Musk laid out his vision for how his various companies are increasingly working together to make this happen.

When Your Companies Start Looking Like One Big Company

Musk explained that there's growing "convergence" between Tesla Inc. (TSLA), SpaceX, and xAI. The overlap makes sense when you consider what he's planning: solar-powered AI satellites positioned in deep space to "harness a non-trivial amount of the energy of the sun." According to Musk, this future "needs to be" powered by these orbital solar installations.

He described the project as a "confluence of Tesla expertise and SpaceX expertise," while giving xAI credit on the artificial intelligence side. Musk also made a bold claim about Tesla's position in the AI race, stating that "Tesla is the world leader in real-world AI" and pointing to the company's self-driving progress as evidence.

Full Self-Driving Gets Some Love

Tesla's Full Self-Driving system has been getting positive attention lately. Ross Gerber from investment firm Gerber Kawasaki has praised the technology, as has Andrej Karpathy, Tesla's former AI lead, who compared the experience to riding on a magnetic levitation train.

Tesla is working on bringing FSD to Europe, and the Dutch regulator RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority) has confirmed a 2026 timeline for the program in the region, though they've warned the schedule could shift.

Meanwhile, Tesla's European sales tell a different story. The EV maker reported just 6,964 new registrations in October across the region, representing a sharp 48.5% year-over-year decline compared to the same period last year.

Your Personal C-3PO Is Coming Soon

Musk also dropped some news about Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot, saying the company plans to kick off scaled production next summer in 2026. "I think everyone's gonna want their own personal C-3PO, R2-D2," Musk predicted during the conversation.

He's made some pretty ambitious claims about Optimus before. Musk has suggested the robot could help Japan address its labor shortages and called it an "infinite money glitch" because it "can operate 24/7."

Starlink Makes Moves in Ukraine

In related news, SpaceX-backed Starlink recently announced a partnership with Ukrainian telecom giant Kyivstar Group Ltd. (KYIV). The agreement will bring direct-to-cell technology to Kyivstar's customers. According to both companies, they've been running tests on the technology for the past year.

The Numbers

TSLA climbed 0.84% to close at $430.17 on Friday. The stock edged up another 0.01% to $430.20 in after-hours trading, according to market data.