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SpaceX’s Starship rocket 38 launches during the 11th test flight on October 13, 2025 as seen from South Padre Island in Texas.

Gabriel V. Cardenas | Afp | Getty Images

SpaceX said it has pitched NASA a “simplified mission” to put astronauts back on the moon following criticisms over delays by Sean Duffy, the space agency’s acting administrator.

In a company blog post out Thursday, Elon Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor said: “We’ve shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission architecture and concept of operations that we believe will result in a faster return to the Moon while simultaneously improving crew safety.” 

Earlier this month, Duffy said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, that SpaceX was behind schedule on building its lunar landing system for NASA’s Artemis III mission and that the agency would reopen the landing contract for that mission to competitors such as Jeff Bezos‘ rocket maker Blue Origin.

A NASA spokesperson in an email to CNBC said that the agency “has received and is evaluating plans from both SpaceX and Blue Origin for acceleration of HLS production.”

“Following the shutdown, the agency will issue an RFI to the broader aerospace industry for their proposals,” the spokesperson said. “A committee of NASA subject matter experts is being assembled to evaluate each proposal and determine the best path forward to win the second space race given the urgency of adversarial threats to peace and transparency on the Moon.”

NASA had previously said that SpaceX and Blue Origin would have until Oct. 29th to propose new ways to speed up the project.

Musk initially responded to Duffy by posting to his social network X, “Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!” In another post, Musk wrote: “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ.”

SpaceX’s massive Starship has flown 11 test flights so far, uncrewed. The last two flights were deemed successful, but the company has not yet shown all the in-orbit refueling capabilities it requires before embarking on the Artemis III, manned lunar mission.

Blue Origin has been developing a lunar lander for NASA and has received about $835 million from the space agency since their contract began in 2023. The company plans to launch a smaller scale version of their lander, known as Blue Moon Mark 1.

Meanwhile, China is aiming to land its astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade.

In September, in an all-hands meetings with NASA employees, Duffy told his staff that he was irked by “shade thrown” on the space agency at a Senate hearing in which some attendees doubted that the U.S. could put astronauts back on the Moon before China could land its astronauts there.

Besides its lunar mission, China also announced it is sending a new crew to its orbiting lab, the Tiangong space station, this week. China built this space station after it was excluded from access to the International Space Station due to U.S. national security concerns.

SpaceX is paid when it achieves different milestones under its NASA contract for the HLS (human landing system integrated lander).

According to USA Spending, which tracks federal contracts, NASA has already paid approximately $2.7 billion to SpaceX for the “design, development, manufacture, test, launch, demonstration and engineering support” of the HLS. The agency is obligated to pay around another $300 million for milestones SpaceX achieved, and Musk’s company stands to earn a total of $4.5 billion (or another $1.5 billion) from the HLS contract if they achieve all milestones.

SpaceX today said, in their company blog post, that they “self-funded” 90% or more of the program, which would imply they have spent over $30 billion already.

As CNBC previously reported, some NASA employees have been required to work without pay for the space agency during the federal government shutdown if their jobs support Artemis missions.

SpaceX and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

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Musk’s xAI raises $15 billion in latest funding round

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Musk's xAI raises  billion in latest funding round

Elon Musk announced his new company xAI, which he says has the goal to understand the true nature of the universe.

Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Elon Musk‘s artificial intelligence company xAI has raised $15 billion from investors, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC’s David Faber.

The funding adds another $5 billion to the $10 billion round CNBC reported on in September that valued the startup at $200 billion. Sources told CNBC that a lot of the money will fund graphic processing units that underpin large language models.

Artificial intelligence startups have reached sky high valuations in recent months as they raise massive amounts of capital to power seemingly endless demand for foundational models.

In September, AI startup Anthropic closed a $13 billion funding round that roughly tripled its valuation from March. Sam Altman’s OpenAI in October closed a $6.6 billion share sale at a $500 billion valuation.

Last last week, Tesla shareholders voted to approve Musk’s massive pay package worth nearly $1 trillion, and voted on a proposal for the company to invest in xAI.

Brandon Ehrhart, general counsel at Tesla, said there were more votes for than against, but noted the abstentions and said the company is considering next steps on the issue.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

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Government shutdown ends, Disney earnings, Anthropic’s $50 billion AI investment and more in Morning Squawk

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Government shutdown ends, Disney earnings, Anthropic's  billion AI investment and more in Morning Squawk

U.S. President Donald Trump signs the funding bill to end the U.S. government shutdown, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Nov. 12, 2025.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

1. Opening time

President Donald Trump ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history last night, signing into law a short-term funding bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier in the evening that funds the government through January.

Here’s what to know:

  • While the deal does not include the extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits that Democrats wanted, it does include a guarantee from Republicans that the Senate will vote on a health care bill of Democrats’ choosing next month.
  • The agreement also ensures funding for food stamps, the reversal of shutdown-related layoffs and backpay for government employees.
  • As he signed the legislation ending the 43-day shutdown, Trump said “people were hurt so badly” and that “we can never let this happen again.” He blamed Democrats for the closure, saying “Republicans never wanted a shutdown.”
  • Earlier on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said key inflation and labor data for October may never be released because of the shutdown. Without these reports, Leavitt said Federal Reserve policymakers will be “flying blind at a critical period.”
  • The Department of Transportation also halted the flight cuts it imposed last week as disruptions to air travel eased. The cancellations would have risen from 6% to 10% on Friday.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to its first-ever close above 48,000 yesterday as Wall Street hoped that the shutdown’s end was imminent.
  • Follow live markets updates here.

2. Testing the magic

A shot of Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

RandomEye Photography | Twenty20

Mickey Mouse may be joining Pluto in the dog house. Disney missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates for the fiscal fourth quarter this morning, sending shares down more than 4% in premarket trading.

While the company’s Disney+ streaming service grew, the entertainment giant was hampered by its linear TV business and its its theatrical film slate. But Disney’s quarterly earnings came in higher than analysts anticipated.

“Overall we’re leaving the year with a lot of momentum,” Disney CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning, referring to the company’s streaming and experience businesses.

3. Personnel matters

U.S. President Donald Trump and Lisa Cook, governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve

Annabelle Gordon | Reuters | Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Mark your calendar: The Supreme Court said it will hear arguments on Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Jan. 21. The court in October allowed Cook to keep her job while the case plays out.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic announced yesterday that he will leave his position when his term expires in February. Bostic, the first Black and openly gay regional Fed president, said in a statement that he was proud of efforts “to turn the lofty goal of an economy that works for everyone into more of a reality.”

4. Inside the AFP business

Jgi/jamie Grill | Tetra Images | Getty Images

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5. Electric slide

Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Anthropic announced yesterday that it plans to spend $50 billion to build out infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence. As CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos notes, the move makes the technology company a major U.S. player in physical AI infrastructure. The project will start with custom data centers in Texas and New York and is expected to create 800 permanent jobs and more than 2,000 construction positions.

But there’s growing political backlash to the AI industry’s data centers, with voters angry over rising electricity prices. Abigail Spanberger, who won last week’s governor race in Virginia, promised to make the industry pay “their fair share” of higher costs.

The Daily Dividend

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released more than 20,000 documents obtained from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate yesterday, among which were emails referencing Trump. The president has denied knowing about Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and young women and has never been charged with wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House would vote next week on releasing files related to Epstein.

I know how dirty donald is

Jeffrey Epstein in a 2018 email thread

CNBC’s Dan Mangan, Jeff Cox, Emily Wilkins, Sean Conlon, Lillian Rizzo, Scott Zamost, Paige Tortorelli, Melissa Lee, MacKenzie Sigalos and Spencer Kimball contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

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Uber will start taking skiers to the slopes at over 40 resorts across U.S. and Europe

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Uber will start taking skiers to the slopes at over 40 resorts across U.S. and Europe

Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images

With ski season approaching, Uber wants to take you to the slopes.

The ride-hailing company on Thursday announced Uber Ski, which will allow users to book a ride to and from nearly 40 mountains in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, and France, according to a release. The services is available through March.

Uber is partnering with Vail Resorts to let riders book an Uber Reserve directly to the mountain resort company’s various destinations. Users can buy an Epic Pass, which grants access to over 90 ski and snowboarding resorts, directly on the app.

Riders can reserve an UberXL or UberXXL up to 90 days in advance, with the larger vehicles offering more trunk space to fit extra gear.

Uber Ski landing page.

Courtesy: Uber

The launch is a part of a series of updates Uber is offering ahead of the holiday season.

Pradeep Parameswaran, Uber’s global head of mobility, said that new features will help “people spend less time stressing about logistics and more time enjoying the moments that matter” during the festive months.

The company is also rolling out Uber Share at three airports as flight delays and cancellations continue to pile up across the country from the government shutdown. President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed into law a funding bill to end the longest shutdown of the federal in U.S. history.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Orlando International Airport, riders can use Uber Share to save up to 25% by pairing up with another traveler headed in the same direction.

Additionally, Uber released a new “Send a Ride” in-app feature that lets users cover the expense of someone else’s ride by sending a voucher link that will be automatically applied to the person’s next trip. The company already has a gifting option for its Uber Eats platform.

When using the “Send a Gift” feature, customers will be able to include a video that could be personalized or picked from a selection of celebrities, including Megan Thee Stallion, the Jonas Brothers, and Tracee Ellis Ross.

WATCH: Cramer on Uber’s quarter

I thought Uber's quarter looked good, but Wall Street disagreed, says Jim Cramer

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