No merger but he did say this in the last PR “ For example, we are working with one credible University on some amazing technologies in the lithium mining industry that could be really important to the future of electric batteries.” Based on my research he likes to stay near Utah to do business. One business he is ceo of is based there, called Loyal companies https://loyalcompanies.com/
I noticed Utah state university is working on lithium batteries. Just speculation on my part though