SpaceX secures $40 billion GPU deal with Apollo Global Management

SpaceX announced on Monday that it has secured a binding $40 billion financing deal for AI chips and related data‑center equipment with an entity managed by private‑equity firm Apollo Global Management. The agreement, described by SpaceX as the “largest committed GPU financing,” will see Apollo purchase the hardware and lease it back to SpaceX for five to five‑and‑a‑quarter years, starting when each tranche is delivered.

The deal comes as SpaceX ramps up its artificial‑intelligence ambitions while looking to diversify funding beyond traditional debt markets. Under the lease, Apollo will buy Nvidia’s next‑generation Vera Rubin GPUs and the servers that house them, then lease the gear to SpaceX. Leases are slated to begin in the first half of 2027, with the financing expected to close by the end of the year, subject to usual conditions. SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said the structure gives the company a “notable portion” of the cash needed for its growth plans and promises payback periods of less than a year as the compute capacity fuels its Grok chatbot and cloud services.

SpaceX’s AI segment posted a blockbuster third quarter, generating $7.6 billion of the company’s $14.6 billion in total revenue—more than its Starlink and launch businesses combined. Capital spending surged to nearly $20 billion, up from $6.9 billion a year earlier, and the company expects to spend $35 billion to $40 billion in the fourth quarter alone. The new lease will fund that expansion, allowing SpaceX to scale compute without draining cash reserves or relying on volatile market financing.

Analysts see the agreement as a signal that large, cash‑rich tech firms can still secure massive funding for AI infrastructure, even as pure‑play “neocloud” providers struggle to attract capital. Elon Musk used the announcement to criticize rivals that depend solely on GPU rentals, warning that many of the 200‑plus neoclouds could face “guppy‑level death and consolidation.” The financing gives SpaceX a competitive edge, tying its AI growth to stable cash flow from Starlink and launch services while reshaping the landscape for AI‑focused data‑center companies.