'Makes Me Want to Die': Elon Musk Slams Report of Secret 'Slimmer-Than-iPhone' SpaceX AI Phone Prototype

Elon Musk has dismissed a Wall Street Journal report claiming SpaceX showed investors a 'handset-like prototype' for a slimmer-than-iPhone AI device, calling the story 'utterly false' on X on Wednesday. The denial comes amid speculation about whether SpaceX might be edging into consumer hardware, even as the company's public line has been that it is not developing a phone.

According to the WSJ, SpaceX had shown a prototype to some investors and other stakeholders before the company's record public offering in June, and the device was described as slimmer than an iPhone. The prototype was said to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, a proprietary operating system and AI technology from xAI, but all of that remains unconfirmed by SpaceX itself.

Musk's response was brief, blunt, and very much on-brand, though it leaves one obvious question hanging in the air: what exactly was shown to investors, if anything?

Elon Musk And The 'Slimmer Than iPhone' Claim

In February, according to reports, SpaceX was exploring a Starlink-linked phone and other internet services, but Musk rejected the idea, posting that the company was 'not developing a phone.' The same report said the concept was tied to Starlink's growth, not a conventional handset project, which is an important distinction that keeps getting blurred in the noise.

Another report went further than the earlier chatter, saying the device was an early prototype shown to investors before the IPO. It added that people familiar with the matter said the design could still change and there was no guarantee it would ever reach the market.

That caveat matters because in tech, 'prototype' often really means 'maybe someday. Even so, the suggestion that SpaceX was testing a phone-like AI device was enough to spark the usual wave of online reaction.

Why The SpaceX AI Phone Prototype Rumour Stuck

The news came that SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell had discussed the possibility of a US mobile service tied to Starlink, while analysts also began floating bolder theories about how far the company might push beyond satellites and broadband. That backdrop made the Journal report seem plausible to many observers, even if Musk himself was quick to swat it down. SpaceX's Starlink arm is currently its only profitable business, which only fuels the sense that the company could keep widening its ambitions.

This story sat right at the intersection of Musk's favourite worlds, space, AI and grand, slightly mad hardware dreams. A slimmer-than-iPhone AI phone prototype from SpaceX sounded like the kind of thing that could either herald a real product strategy or collapse into another round of corporate mythmaking. And with Musk, those two outcomes often look annoyingly similar from a distance.

Musk has brushed off similar claims before, including the notion of a Starlink phone, but he has also left himself just enough room to sound less absolute than the denials suggest. In Pennsylvania last year, he said, 'the idea of making a phone makes me want to die,' before adding, 'if we have to make a phone, we will, but we will aspire not to make a phone.'

That is not exactly a warm embrace of the category, but it is not a full stop either.

What Musk Has Said Before

Musk's latest rejection is consistent with his earlier public line, though not with the wider swirl of speculation around SpaceX's next move. According to Reuters, in February, he flatly said, 'We are not developing a phone,' after questions about a Starlink-linked handset.

The other reports' version now adds a new layer because it is not merely about a future product idea but about an alleged investor presentation, which is a much more concrete claim.

For now, there is no public confirmation from SpaceX that such a device exists in any meaningful commercial sense. The company has said nothing to independently back the Journal's reporting, and Musk's own reaction was a straight rejection rather than a nuanced clarification.

Whether the prototype was misread, misdescribed or simply overhyped is not yet clear. What is clear is that the story has put SpaceX's hardware ambitions back under the spotlight, and that is exactly the sort of mess Musk tends to attract.