OpenAI emails show that a possible Cerebras acquisition through Tesla was discussed in 2017.

  • Retail traders speculated that Cerebras’ steep selloff could create a buying opportunity for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
  • Musk said SpaceX had closed $40 billion in GPU financing and separately ruled out acquiring neocloud companies.
  • OpenAI accounts for a significant portion of Cerebras’ $25.4 billion contracted revenue backlog.

Shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) edged 0.1% lower premarket on Monday as retail traders speculated that Cerebras Systems’ steep selloff could give CEO Elon Musk an opening to buy the AI chipmaker.

SPCX stock rose 1.9% on Friday to close at $147.49, while Cerebras (CBRS) gained 1.7% to $110.82. CBRS stock is about 40% below its $185 IPO price and 71% below its $386.34 debut-day peak.

CBRS Slump Fuels Retail Takeover Hopes

On Stocktwits, SPCX sentiment was ‘extremely bullish’ amid ‘extremely high’ message volume, while CBRS sentiment was ‘neutral’ amid ‘high’ volume.

One user asked, “Is a deal with $SPCX SpaceXAI imminent?” Another said, “Musk wants this company so bad.”

A separate user said, “Looks like Musk trying to figure out ways to buyout this company cheap AF while others panic.” A user who disclosed a short position pushed back: “Time will tell but the trend doesn’t look good and most likely this will trade below $90 after earnings.” 

Halloween Event Sparks CBRS-SPCX Chatter

An X user outlined a broader partnership thesis, citing shared investors and a possible role for Cerebras in Musk’s AI infrastructure. The user speculated that “Cafe Compute: The Night Before RSI,” a Halloween event, was jointly hosted by SpaceX and Cerebras. “I think it’s reasonable to view that joint branding as a possible early signal of a broader collaboration,” the user said.

The Luma listing names Cerebras as presenter but does not identify SpaceX as a host or announce a partnership. The post highlighted Gavin Baker’s Atreides Management, which has backed SpaceX and co-led Cerebras’ $1.1 billion funding round in September 2025. It also argued that Cerebras could accelerate Musk’s AI applications alongside existing GPUs. “Grok Bot, coding agents and other interactive applications give that possibility a clear purpose: shortening the time between asking AI to do something and getting the job done,” the user said.

OpenAI Emails Shed Light On Early CBRS Interest

The chatter follows Musk’s statement on Sunday that SpaceX had closed $40 billion in GPU financing. He separately ruled out buying neocloud companies, which rent AI computing capacity. His Cerebras connection dates to OpenAI’s early years. In a September 2017 email published by OpenAI, co-founder Ilya Sutskever discussed a possible acquisition through Tesla. “In the event we decide to buy Cerebras, my strong sense is that it’ll be done through Tesla,” Sutskever said.

A July 2017 email from Shivon Zilis also discussed Cerebras in OpenAI’s hardware plans, according to a trial-exhibit index. 

Cerebras’ OpenAI Ties Come Under Scrutiny

Cerebras’ slide has coincided with scrutiny of its OpenAI relationship. SemiAnalysis reported that OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast tier ran on Nvidia GPUs, before clarifying that Cerebras was sold out.

“Cerebras is a close partner, and we have a deep engagement pushing on the frontiers of speed,” Altman said earlier this month. Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman later attributed OpenAI’s Nvidia use partly to limited Cerebras data-center capacity.

OpenAI has committed to purchasing 750 megawatts of inference capacity and accounts for a significant portion of Cerebras’ $25.4 billion in contracted revenue yet to be recognized. Cerebras recognized $56.8 million in revenue from OpenAI in the second quarter.

While SPCX stock has declined 8% year-to-date, CBRS stock plunged 64% over the same period. 

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