SpaceX Files for What Could Be the Biggest IPO Ever

Summary

WSJ What’s News — PM Edition

Episode: SpaceX Files for What Could Be the Biggest IPO Ever

Air Date: April 1, 2026
Host: Alex Osola

Episode Overview

This episode delivers a brisk roundup of the top headlines in business, technology, law, and global affairs for April 1, 2026, with a spotlight on SpaceX’s confidential IPO filing, the historic Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, Anthropic’s AI leak, and NASA’s Artemis 2 Moon mission. Each segment features on-the-ground updates, expert interviews, and concise analysis tailored to business and market-minded listeners.

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Key Segments & Insights

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Supreme Court Hears Birthright Citizenship Case

Timestamps: 00:32 – 04:34

Summary

• The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments over possible limits to birthright citizenship, specifically questioning if children born on U.S. soil to unauthorized immigrants or temporary residents should automatically receive citizenship.
• President Trump attended the hearing—a historical first for a sitting president—and his administration defended a second-term executive order to end automatic birthright citizenship for these groups.

Key Discussion Points

• Trump Administration’s Argument:
  • Interprets the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause as not automatically including children of temporary or unauthorized residents.
  • Focuses on the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” insisting it requires the parents to be citizens or permanent residents.
• Justices' Reaction:
  • Initial skepticism across ideological lines; humanitarian challenges raised by Justice Alito.
  • Discussion of people having established lives in the U.S. even if legally removable, hinting at the deep societal stakes.
  • Some conservative justices later appeared open to the administration's reasoning.

Notable Quotes

• Lydia Wheeler (WSJ Legal Affairs Reporter):
  • “The Trump administration is arguing that the citizenship clause...was adopted to confer citizenship on newly freed slaves and their children, not on the children of immigrants in the country temporarily or illegally.” (01:48)
  • “The government was having a hard time...but there was this notable shift, kind of halfway through the arguments, where it really started to seem like maybe some of the court's conservative majority was actually in favor…” (03:33)

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Anthropic AI Source Code Leak

Timestamps: 04:35 – 07:32

Summary

• Anthropic, an AI company valued at $380 billion and a potential upcoming IPO, accidentally published internal instructions (“Claude code”) used to direct its flagship AI agent.
• No consumer data was released, but the leak exposed proprietary methods and poses a technical and reputational risk.

Key Discussion Points

• Nature of the Leak:
  • The foundation (“the harness”) that guides the AI, enabling developers to accelerate coding was released due to a packaging error.
  • Once such internal tooling is available publicly, it can be cloned by competitors or exploited by hackers.
• Business Consequences:
  • Damages Anthropic's image as a 'safe' and 'secure' AI company.
  • Competitors gain unprecedented insights, creating competitive and security risk just as Anthropic eyes its IPO.

Notable Quotes

• Sam Schechner (WSJ Tech Reporter):
  • "If suddenly they're kind of giving away the recipe, even accidentally, for how they put that together, that's a big deal." (05:23)
  • "It also reveals the trade secret of how they make Claude code work. Anthropic's competitors now have a detailed roadmap..." (06:24)

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Global Political and Market Updates

Timestamps: 07:37 – 10:50

War in Iran & U.S. Response

• President Trump announced the U.S. would consider a ceasefire in Iran only “when Hormuz Strait is open, free and clear.”
• Trump threatened NATO withdrawal, criticizing allies’ reluctance to support U.S. military efforts in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions within the alliance.

Market Wrap

Imani Moiz reports:

• Hopes of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire drove markets higher—Nasdaq up 1.2%.
• Energy sector slumped as Brent crude dropped 2.7% ($101/barrel); ExxonMobil suffered its worst one-day loss since 2008 (down 5.2%, or $36B in value).
• Egg prices plummeted, hurting producers but boosting stocks like Cal-Maine.
• GM sales down nearly 10% year-on-year due to high rates and prices.
• U.S. private sector added 62,000 jobs in March—better than expected, mainly in education and health.

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SpaceX’s Record-Setting IPO Plans

Timestamps: 10:50 – 11:39

Summary

• SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO, targeting a monumental raise—between $40 and $80 billion—possibly the largest ever.
• The move is timed alongside rival expected IPOs from OpenAI and Anthropic; overlapping investor interest is a factor in timing and scale.
• The IPO is expected to provide unprecedented insight into SpaceX’s diverse operations: satellites, launchpads, and more.

Notable Quotes

• Corey Driebush (WSJ IPO Reporter):
  • “A lot of the same investors are going to be looking at putting money into SpaceX as OpenAI and as Anthropic. And if one of those doesn’t go well...those same fund managers might say, ‘I'm going to put it in a smaller order this time.’” (11:11)

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NASA’s Artemis 2: Mission Around the Moon

Timestamps: 11:39 – 13:04

Summary

• NASA prepares for Artemis 2, its first deep space human mission since Apollo 17 (1972).
• Four astronauts to travel around the moon—coming within 5,000 miles of the surface and testing critical Orion capsule systems.
• Artemis 2 is the precursor to ambitions for a lunar base and eventual Mars exploration.

Notable Quotes

• Micah Madenberg (WSJ Space Reporter):
  • “This is a big deal...This is the effort where the agency is hoping to one day send astronauts back to the surface of the moon and then press on to sort of bigger goals...But it all kind of starts with Artemis 2.” (12:28)

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Memorable Moments

• Justice Alito raises humanitarian concerns: "Normally when you think about someone who is subject to an arrest...they wouldn't say that they are domiciled...but because of our ineffective immigration laws, people have come to think of themselves as permanent residents." (02:32)
• Anthropic’s AI leak described as ‘giving away the recipe’: (05:23)
• Market shock as Exxon suffers its largest plunge since 2008. (09:08)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:32] – Supreme Court hears birthright citizenship arguments (Lydia Wheeler)
• [04:35] – Anthropic AI source code leak (Sam Schechner)
• [07:37] – Iran conflict & NATO rift update
• [09:08] – Market wrap: stocks, commodities, jobs (Imani Moiz)
• [10:50] – SpaceX IPO details (Corey Driebush)
• [11:39] – NASA Artemis 2 moon mission overview (Micah Madenberg)

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains WSJ’s signature brisk, fact-driven tone, seamlessly blending legal analysis, breaking tech news, geopolitical updates, and market-savvy commentary. Direct, articulate exchanges between hosts and correspondents ground complex topics for an informed yet time-constrained audience.

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Conclusion

This episode spotlights a convergence of pivotal events: unprecedented legal debates about American identity, high-stakes missteps in the AI race, historic capital market moves, and a return to lunar exploration. Essential listening for anyone tracking the intersection of policy, business, and technology as they shape tomorrow’s headlines.

Transcript

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[Alex Osola]

The Supreme Court hears arguments on birthright citizenship. The outcome could redetermine who gets to be an American.

[Lydia Wheeler]

You have people who have been relying on this automatic birthright citizenship for over a century, and so I think that there's always concern about how whatever they decide will play out in the real world.

[Alex Osola]

Plus, SpaceX files for what could be the biggest IPO in history, and NASA is planning to go where no one has gone before, or at least not since 1972. It's Wednesday, April 1st. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The Supreme Court heard arguments today on possible limits to birthright citizenship in the U.S. as expected, President Trump sat in on part of the hearing, the first known example of a sitting president to attend arguments before the Supreme Court. On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order that would end automatic birthright citizenship for babies born to unauthorized immigrants or people living here temporarily. At least six courts have already said the order violates the 14th Amendment. WSJ legal affairs reporter Lydia Wheeler joins me now from Washington. Lydia, what was the Trump administration's argument here?

[Lydia Wheeler]

So the Trump administration is arguing that the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment was adopted to confer citizenship on newly freed slaves and their children, not on the children of immigrants in the country temporarily or illegally. And so what they're really focused on is that the citizenship clause says all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and this is the key words subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens. And the government argues that it's those words in the jurisdiction thereof that creates this condition that requires a child's parents to be citizens of the United States or or permanent residence, both under the Constitution and federal law.

[Alex Osola]

How did the justices seem to respond to those arguments?

[Lydia Wheeler]

So the justices across the court's ideological divide voiced skepticism of the government's position that the citizenship clause was never designed to include the citizenship of people in the United States temporarily or illegally. And even Justice Samuel Alito at one point was like, isn't this a humanitarian problem. You know, he said that normally when you think about someone who is subject to an arrest, potentially because they're here illegally, that they wouldn't say that they are domiciled or have a permanent residence in the US but because of our ineffective immigration laws, he said, people have come to think of themselves as being permanent residents.

[Lydia Wheeler (continued)]

There are people who are subject to removal at any time if they are apprehended and they go through the proper procedures. But they have, in their minds, made a permanent home here and have established roots. And that raises a humanitarian problem.

[Lydia Wheeler]

So it seemed like right from the start that the government was having a hard time. But then there was this notable shift, kind of halfway through the arguments, where it really started to seem like maybe some of the court's conservative majority was actually in favor of the president's arguments here. I think that there's always concern about how whatever they decide will play out in the real world.

[Alex Osola]

So you walk through the Trump administration's arguments, and what is the other side arguing?

[Lydia Wheeler]

Right. So civil rights attorneys representing the individuals in this class action are challenging the order, and they say that the Trump administration is trying to radically reinterpret what has been a pervasive understanding of the Constitution as well as the court's own precedent and federal law for well over a century. And they say that it's trying to erroneously add this domicile requirement for U.S. born children with foreign national parents.

[Alex Osola]

Okay, guess we'll have to wait and see. That was WSJ legal affairs reporter Lydia Wheeler. Thanks, Lydia.

[Lydia Wheeler]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Alex Osola]

A decision is expected by the end of June. In his first comments after the arguments, President Trump posted on social media that the U.S. was, quote, stupid for allowing birthright citizenship. Anthropic is scrambling to contain the fallout after it accidentally exposed the underlying instructions it uses to direct its popular AI Agent app, Claude Code. As of this morning, Anthropic representatives had requested the removal of more than 8,000 copies and adaptations of its raw Claude code instructions, known as source code, that developers had shared on programming platform GitHub. WSJ tech reporter Sam Schechner joins me now. Sam, an Anthropic spokesman said the leak didn't expose any consumer information or data. So just what was leaked here, what

[Sam Schechner]

it is, is it's the harness. If you imagine an AI system is like a horse. You need a harness to ride it, to direct it. You know, Claude code is a tool that experienced developers can use to really accelerate their work. It does a large amount of coding on its own. And CLAUDE code has been a driver of growth for Anthropic. It's something that has won Anthropic a lot of business from developers. So if suddenly they're kind of giving away the recipe, even accidentally, for how they put that together, that's a big deal.

[Alex Osola]

And how did this happen?

[Sam Schechner]

Well, what Anthropic says is that there was a packaging issue caused by human error when they were publishing a new version of CLAUDE code. In layperson speak, that means that there was a file that was a roadmap for all of the internal source code for CLAUDE code, rather than the sort of compressed version that you would actually run on your machine.

[Alex Osola]

So the company is now scrambling to contain this fallout. What is at stake for its business here?

[Sam Schechner]

Anthropic is potentially looking at an IPO later this year. It recently closed a new round of funding that values the company at $380 billion. And, you know, CLAUDE code is certainly a large part of that equation. And this is a blow to Anthropic in part because the company's brand has been that it's the AI company that's concerned about safety and that takes security very seriously. Even a simple mistake can undermine that image in the eyes of the enterprises that are buying its services. But it also reveals the trade secret of how they make Claude code work. Anthropic's competitors now have a detailed roadmap for how to clone some of these features without needing to reverse engineer them. In addition, there could be security issues. Once you know the source code of an app, it might make it easier for hackers or others to better manipulate the AI model into doing stuff that it's not supposed to do, like help with cyber attacks or actually compromise the app itself, which could put users of the app in danger.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ tech reporter Sam Schechner. Thanks, Sam.

[Sam Schechner]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Alex Osola]

Now for the latest on the war in Iran. In a post on his Truth Social network today, President Trump said the US Would consider a ceasefire, quote, when Hormuz Strait is open, free and clear. Trump plans to address the nation on the war this evening at 9pm Eastern Time. We'll be livestreaming his comments on WSJ.com Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the Strait of Hormuz remains firmly under its control and dismissed Trump's, quote, performative actions. Earlier, President Trump said he's considering withdrawing the US from NATO. That's according to an interview with a British newspaper in which he sharply criticized the military alliance's response to the war. His comments come amid a deepening rift with European allies after they declined to join military efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Coming up around the moon and back is where NASA astronauts are headed as soon as tonight. That and more after the break.

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[Imani Moiz]

Hey, and welcome back to what's news. I'm Imani Moiz, host of what's News and Markets. Stocks kicked off the month higher today as investors held out hope that the US Would wrap up military actions in Iran soon. Comments from the Oval Office suggesting a resolution could come within weeks pushed all three major indexes higher. Nasdaq led the way with a 1.2% gain. The news wasn't as positive for the energy sector, which has been boosted by the surge in oil prices today. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, slipped 2.7% to about $101 a barrel. And shares in ExxonMobil fell 5.2%, shedding around 36 billion dol in market value. Exxon hasn't lost that much value in a single day since the global financial crisis in 2008. Egg prices are in free fall, which is good news, unless, of course, you sell eggs this morning. Cal, Maine, the biggest egg producer in the U.S. reported a 53% drop in sales for the quarter ended Feb. 28. Still, that decline wasn't as bad as Wall street expected. Shares closed more than 5% higher. General Motors reported a nearly 10% drop in sales in the first quarter of the year. High interest rates and higher car prices kept potential buyers on the sidelines. It's a sharp reversal from this time last year, when sales surged 17% as drivers rushed to beat incoming tariffs. Analysts have been expecting car sales to be flat or down for the year, and payroll processor ADP reports the US economy added 62,000 private sector jobs in March, beating economists expectations. Most of the hiring was concentrated in education and health services. We'll get the government's official jobs report on Friday.

[Alex Osola]

SpaceX is planning to go public in what could be the biggest IPO of all time. Elon Musk's rocket company has confidentially filed IPO paperwork with regulators, and we've reported it's aiming to raise between 40 and 80 billion dollars. Corey Driebush covers IPOs for the Journal, and she says the company is on track to potentially list its shares by the summer. One reason for that we have a

[Corey Driebush]

couple other huge IPOs that are eyeing debuts later this year, and those are AI rivals, which are OpenAI and Anthropic. A lot of the same investors are going to be looking at putting money into SpaceX as OpenAI and as anthropic. And if one of those doesn't go well and they happen to go first, those same fund managers might say, you know what? I'm going to put it in a smaller order this time. I don't think I'm going to buy as much of that risky stock once it's public.

[Alex Osola]

SpaceX's filing is expected to shed light on the company's operations, which range from satellite factories to launch pads. And finally, if all goes according to plan, later this evening, NASA will launch its boldest moon mission in decades. The roughly 10 day mission, called Artemis 2, will send four astronauts around the moon and as close as 5,000 miles to the satellite and back. It would mark the deepest human spaceflight since the last Apollo lunar landing in 1972. The crew on board the capsule Orion may become the first people to see parts of the far side of the moon. The astronauts will test all kinds of ship systems like life support, communications and navigation, ahead of even more ambitious plans for Orion. WSJ space reporter Micah Madenberg says the stakes are high for NASA.

[Micah Madenberg]

This is a big deal. This is a high stakes mission for the agency, for the contractors, and most of all for the crew that's going to be on board Orion. Neither the rocket or Orion have ever carried humans on board, so it's a big moment and a lot of firsts. This is the effort where the agency is hoping to one day send astronauts back to the surface of the moon and then press on to sort of bigger goals with exploration, human landings on the moon in 2028, a moon base, Mars someday. But it all kind of starts with Artemis 2.

[Alex Osola]

After entering back through Earth's atmosphere, Orion is designed to splash down under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean not far from San Diego. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Imani Moiz and Alexis Green, with supervising producer Pierre Bienname. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

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