Humanoid robots and self-driving cars could unlock SpaceX's $28.5 trillion market opportunity: Gwynne Shotwell

SpaceX's long-term growth opportunity extends far beyond today's artificial intelligence applications, with humanoid robots and fully autonomous vehicles likely to drive demand for computing power and communications on a massive scale, President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said on Friday.

Speaking exclusively to CNBC following the company's market debut, Shotwell outlined how emerging AI-powered technologies could underpin the $28.5 trillion total addressable market cited in SpaceX's prospectus.

"I think if you think about people simply using AI, it's hard to get to those numbers," Shotwell said.

"But if you think about digital humans, humanoid robots, and all cars on the planet eventually becoming fully self-driving, they all need AI compute and communications," she added.

The comments provide a glimpse into how SpaceX sees its future role in an AI-driven economy, where billions of connected devices, robots and autonomous systems require constant access to computing resources and communications networks.

According to Shotwell, the growth of those technologies could create significant demand for both AI infrastructure and connectivity services.

"All of this compute distributed across the globe will need to connect back home," she said. "So I'm very excited about that combination, plus the need for all of these systems to 'phone home', because they'll be using Starlink for that."

The remarks underscore the strategic importance of Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet business, as the company seeks to expand beyond launch services into communications, artificial intelligence and computing infrastructure.

Also Read | SpaceX soars 23% in Wall Street debut, makes Elon Musk world's first trillionaire

SpaceX began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker SPCX, marking the largest initial public offering ever and one of the most closely watched stock market debuts in recent years.

The stock opened at $150 and rose to $166.90 by around 12:20 pm ET, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately $2.18 trillion. Forbes estimated Musk's net worth at roughly $1.1 trillion following the listing.