For AI Race, SpaceX Plans $74 Billion Investment to Build Data Centers in Texas, Arizona

Texas campus near Starbase

SpaceX announced Thursday that it intends to spend $24 billion on a data center campus in Texas. The site covers 444 acres of company-owned land near Starbase, the rocket site in the Rio Grande Valley.

The company said the Texas facility would generate power for itself instead of drawing from the public grid. It was not immediately clear whether the project would require additional regulatory approvals. The announcement also included plans for a campus in Arizona, but no further details about that project were provided.

AI business expands rapidly

SpaceX has grown its business leasing computing power to other A.I. companies, including Anthropic and Google. In October, it reported that A.I. accounted for more than half of its revenue.

The company went public this year in what the article described as the largest initial public offering in history. Its data center plans come as it invests heavily in infrastructure for the global A.I. competition.

Spending and financing climb

SpaceX reported in October that capital expenditures reached $19.6 billion in the third quarter, nearly three times the amount spent in the same period the previous year. Elon Musk said the company had also completed $40 billion in debt financing to help pay for chips for its data centers.