SpaceX has entered into a binding commitment for roughly $40 billion in financing for AI chips and related data center equipment, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
Under the agreement, an entity managed by Apollo Global Management, a New York-based investment firm, will purchase the chips and related server hardware and lease the equipment to SpaceX. The leases will run for approximately five to five-and-a-quarter years, starting when each tranche of equipment is delivered, according to the filing.
SpaceX expects the deal to close by the end of the year, subject to closing conditions. The leases are expected to begin in the first half of 2027 as the graphics processing units (GPUs) and related equipment arrive.
READ: Elon Musk plans to merge SpaceX and Tesla in a $3.6 trillion deal (October 21, 2026)
“This lease diversifies our funding sources and addresses a notable portion of the funding required to deliver on our growth plans,” SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said in a statement Monday. He noted that the company is seeing “less than one-year payback periods” on its AI infrastructure investments as it expands computing capacity to power Grok and its cloud services.
Apollo said the financing will help deliver Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin chips for SpaceX’s “terrestrial compute buildout.”
Reuters previously reported that SpaceX was in talks with banks and asset managers to raise $40 billion to purchase Nvidia AI chips.
“This is primarily callable debt for GPU purchases that will arrive in Q1 and Q2,” Musk said in a follow-up post on X, confirming that the GPUs are expected to arrive in the first half of 2027. “Not a major factor this quarter.”
Musk also said borrowing conditions have deteriorated significantly for companies that rely heavily on AI infrastructure.
“As of the past few weeks, debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers,” he said.
READ: SpaceX phone could challenge Samsung more than Apple, investor Gene Munster says (October 12, 2026)
Musk warned that many of these companies could struggle to survive.
“That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation,” Musk said, referring to companies that rent out computing power primarily to AI customers. “Some will make it through, but not many.”
Last week, Musk floated plans to merge SpaceX and Tesla into a single entity spanning rockets, satellites, internet services, chatbots, social media, robots and cars.
Musk said the two companies had established special committees of independent directors to study a potential merger, which he described as “a good idea.” However, he acknowledged that, as a major shareholder and executive at both companies, he would be a “conflicted party” and cautioned that there was no guarantee the companies would reach an agreement.