Elon Musk said SpaceX has closed $40 billion in debt financing to purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) used to power artificial intelligence systems, with the financing expected to arrive in the first half of 2027.
In a post on X on Sunday, Musk said the company had completed the financing, adding that SpaceX was investment grade and generated revenue from its Starlink satellite internet and rocket launch businesses. In a follow-up post, he said the financing primarily consisted of callable debt for GPUs and was expected to arrive in the first and second quarters of 2027.
The announcement followed a Bloomberg report on Friday that SpaceX was in talks with banks and investors to raise $40 billion to purchase chips from Nvidia. The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said market turmoil had complicated the financing discussions.
According to Bloomberg, the proposed structure would use a special purpose vehicle to keep the debt off SpaceX’s balance sheet and preserve its investment-grade credit ratings. Goldman Sachs was leading discussions with investors, including Apollo Global Management, over the financing structure.
Musk’s announcement indicates that the financing has now been closed, although he did not disclose further details of the arrangements in his posts.
The transaction highlights the substantial funding requirements of the artificial intelligence industry, where technology companies are committing billions of dollars to advanced processors and data centres to support increasingly powerful AI systems.
SpaceX has expanded aggressively into artificial intelligence this year, referring to the business as “Super Intelligence”, or SI. The unit has become the company’s largest business segment, according to its latest earnings release.
Revenue from the segment surged ninefold in the third quarter to $7.56 billion, compared with $813 million a year earlier. The figures point to the growing contribution of AI-related activities to SpaceX’s business as the company seeks the computing capacity required to develop and operate its systems.
Musk also warned that access to debt financing had become increasingly difficult for companies whose revenues depended heavily on AI data centres. He said debt markets had largely shut off financing for businesses without substantial revenue sources outside the sector.
He predicted that more than 200 so-called neocloud companies could face widespread failures and consolidation as financing conditions tighten. These companies provide cloud computing infrastructure specifically designed for artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads.
Musk said only a small number of the companies were likely to survive the expected consolidation, highlighting the financial pressures facing businesses that rely on continued access to capital to build and operate AI computing infrastructure.
