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The richest man in the world says he is not building a phone… again, and again, and again…
Last October, Elon Musk sat down with Joe Rogan. “I am not working on a phone,” he said.
On January 30, someone on X chimed in …
The important part there is that “it would be a very different device than current phones.”
Then, a few days later, Reuters reported that SpaceX had plans for a Starlink phone. Musk’s response:
Then on July 1, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX had shown investors a prototype of a handset-like AI device before its June IPO. The report said the device was slimmer than an iPhone, ran its own operating system, and used technology from Musk’s AI company, xAI. Musk posted two words in reply:
Case closed?
Not quite, according to Josh Baylin – a former Bloomberg tech reporter and hedge-fund trader. And he thinks the denial is the most interesting part of this story…
His argument is simple: Musk may indeed be telling the truth when he says there’s no finished phone sitting in a drawer in Starbase.
Nonetheless, practically every piece required to build a phone has already been bought, filed, licensed, or launched by one of Musk’s companies… The spectrum, satellites, chips, AI, trademarks, and even the regulatory clearances.
Until we have an official name, Josh is calling this potential device by the moniker, “Starphone.”
And just a few days ago, the U.S. government handed SpaceX the last piece of the puzzle…
In early October, the Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX’s plan to launch 15,000 next-generation satellites for a service called Starlink Mobile. More importantly, the agency waived the rule requiring SpaceX to lease spectrum from a ground-based carrier.
In plain English, SpaceX can now sell wireless service to Americans on its own.
A company that can beam 5G to your phone from orbit… that owns one of the most capable AI models in the world… and that controls the cheapest and most reliable rocket launches on Earth now has permission to be your phone company.
Here’s the timeline so far…
- September 2025. SpaceX agrees to pay $17 billion for wireless airwaves owned by EchoStar (SATS). Half in cash, half in SpaceX stock. This is spectrum that gives SpaceX the exclusive right to broadcast on a slice of radio frequencies… including straight to ordinary cell phones.
- October 2025. SpaceX files to trademark the name “Starlink Mobile.” The application covers personal cellular service and two-way voice, text, and audio. That sure sounds like a phone company to me. The company also filed a companion mark, “Powered by Starlink.”
- November 2025. SpaceX buys another $2.6 billion worth of spectrum from EchoStar.
- January 2026. SpaceX asks the FCC for permission to launch up to one million satellites that would run AI in orbit.
- February 2026. SpaceX absorbs xAI, the company behind the Grok AI chatbot. Now Elon’s rockets, satellites, social network X, and AI all sit under one roof.
- May 2026. Ahead of its IPO, SpaceX files its SEC paperwork… defining Starlink Mobile as a service that delivers cellular connectivity straight to everyday smartphones via satellite. It says the next generation of mobile satellites, combined with the EchoStar airwaves, is designed to deliver “a connectivity solution on par with terrestrial mobile networks.”
- October 2026. SpaceX announces it intends to acquire a low-band spectrum license portfolio in the 800 MHz band. As the company put it… “This prime low-band spectrum addresses one of the key remaining technical gaps that will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US.”
So here’s the question Josh keeps asking: Why would Musk build all of that and then let another company sell you the device?
The stakes here are massive. Your phone is the most personal piece of technology ever made… It’s the first thing most folks touch in the morning, and the last thing they put down on the nightstand in the evening.
To hear Josh’s prediction in his own words – click here for his full, exclusive interview.
