Elon Musk has said SpaceX closed $40 billion in debt financing to buy graphics processing units, in one of the largest AI hardware financings ever disclosed. Reuters reported Musk’s announcement, made in a post on X on Sunday, 25 October, after Reuters had earlier reported the company was in talks with banks and asset managers to raise the sum for Nvidia AI chips.

What Musk said the money is for

Musk said the debt was primarily callable debt for GPU purchases arriving in the first and second quarters, and “not a major factor this quarter.” He credited the company’s investment-grade status and revenue from its Starlink satellite internet and launch businesses with preserving its access to credit. For the fourth quarter, the company expects $35 billion to $40 billion in capital expenditure, according to chief financial officer Bret Johnsen.

The numbers behind the raise

SpaceX’s revenue climbed 161% to $14.58 billion for the three months ended 30 September from a year earlier, while capital expenses nearly tripled to $19.6 billion. The company’s Terafab chip joint venture with Tesla in Austin should produce its first test chip around May or June next year, aiming for volume production by the third quarter of 2028.

The caveat to keep in view

Reuters noted it was not immediately clear from Musk’s post what he meant by the deal being “closed,” or whether investors had agreed pricing for the debt. Musk also predicted a shakeout among “neocloud” GPU-rental firms, saying debt markets had almost entirely shut off access for companies without substantial revenue independent of AI data centres — and that SpaceX would not buy any neoclouds.