"This has never even come up in a discussion ever," Musk, the world's richest person, said on ​his X social media account in response to the report. "Absurdly fake news".

A merger between Musk's Tesla and SpaceX would raise geopolitical and regulatory hurdles, particularly in China, because SpaceX is a major U.S. defense contractor involved in national security and satellite programs, while Tesla operates wholly owned manufacturing facilities in China.

Tesla and SpaceX could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular business hours.

Shares of the EV maker were up about 2% in premarket trading.

Investors and analysts have long speculated about the ‌possibility of combining Musk's EV and space firms, with the ⁠discussion intensifying during SpaceX's record $75 billion initial public offering process.

Last week, Musk declined to dismiss the possibility of a merger between Tesla and his other trillion-dollar-plus company, SpaceX, saying the two businesses are increasingly overlapping.

Musk had in recent years instructed ⁠Tesla executives to organize the company with a "laser" between its U.S. and China businesses, aiming to ensure that in the event of geopolitical strife between the two countries, at least the U.S. half of Tesla would survive, the Journal said, citing sources.

Unlike many foreign automakers, Tesla's Chinese vehicle business is not structured as a joint venture with a ​local ​partner.

Tesla's Gigafactory Shanghai remains its largest and most productive plant globally, serving as its key ​export hub for Europe, Canada and the Asia-Pacific region.

The facility ‌historically accounts for more than half of Tesla's global deliveries, with an annual production capacity of more than 950,000 vehicles.

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NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERN

Earlier this month, Musk left the door open to Tesla merging with his other trillion-dollar-plus-valued firm SpaceX, declining to dismiss the possibility and citing growing overlap between the companies.

JPMorgan analysts, however, have pointed to the "practical bottleneck" of getting regulatory approvals for both companies, particularly in China, where national security concerns over SpaceX's U.S. government ties could pose problems.