SpaceX has secured a binding commitment for roughly $40 billion in financing for AI chips and related data-center equipment from an entity managed by Apollo Global Management, according to a regulatory filing reported by TechCrunch.
Under the arrangement, Apollo will purchase the GPUs and server hardware and lease them to SpaceX. The leases are expected to run for about five to five-and-a-quarter years, beginning as each equipment tranche is delivered.
SpaceX expects the deal to close by the end of 2026, subject to closing conditions. The leases are expected to begin during the first half of 2027 as the equipment arrives. Apollo said the financing will support the delivery of Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin chips for SpaceX’s terrestrial computing operations.
Funding a larger AI infrastructure buildout
The structure gives SpaceX another way to finance its expanding AI operations without relying exclusively on conventional debt markets. CFO Bret Johnsen said the company is seeing payback periods of less than a year on some AI infrastructure investments as it scales computing for Grok and its cloud services.
TechCrunch reported that SpaceX’s AI segment generated $7.6 billion of the company’s $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue, while capital expenditures rose to nearly $20 billion from $6.9 billion a year earlier. Johnsen said on an earnings call that SpaceX expected fourth-quarter spending of $35 billion to $40 billion.
The agreement arrives as investors scrutinize the heavy capital requirements and uncertain profitability of AI infrastructure companies. SpaceX can point to revenue from Starlink and its launch business alongside its AI operations, a broader base that CEO Elon Musk argued gives it an advantage over cloud providers focused primarily on renting out GPUs.
Musk also predicted that many of the more than 200 so-called neocloud companies would face consolidation, though that forecast was his own assessment rather than a confirmed outcome.