SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Elon Musk, has raised $40 billion, equivalent to approximately R$ 216 billion, through debt financing. This amount will be used to acquire graphics processing units (GPUs), which are essential for the development and operation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Elon Musk announced this fundraising on Sunday, the 25th, via a post on the X platform. According to him, access to this credit was facilitated both by SpaceX's investment-grade risk rating and by the revenues generated by its satellite internet businesses, such as Starlink, and space launches.
This move occurs amid intense competition among technology companies to secure the supply of advanced chips and expand the computational infrastructure necessary for the advancement of artificial intelligence. Nvidia is the main supplier of the processors that SpaceX plans to purchase.
In his communication, Musk specified that the financing primarily refers to an actionable debt intended for the purchase of GPUs, with deliveries scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2027. He emphasized that this operation will not significantly impact the current quarter's results.
The financing also demonstrates the importance of having access to the debt market for corporations seeking to build large computing structures. The combination of SpaceX's investment-grade rating with consolidated revenues, such as those from Starlink and rockets, strengthens its ability to attract financial resources.
Reuters had anticipated this news in early October, reporting that the company was negotiating with asset managers and banks to raise $40 billion (about R$ 216 billion) to obtain Nvidia AI chips.
This financing closure takes place while technology companies compete for access to cutting-edge processors and invest in creating data centers to meet the growing demand for AI services.
Additionally, Musk has been focusing investments on Terafab, a chip manufacturing initiative uniting SpaceX and Tesla in Austin, Texas (USA). According to Reuters, this project aims to deliver the first test chip around May or June 2027, with the goal of achieving mass production in the third quarter of 2028.
Even before its Initial Public Offering (IPO), SpaceX had included the manufacturing of its own GPUs in those capital raising documents as one of the considerable capital investments planned. The company warned investors about the inherent costs of developing AI and other technologies, indicating that the plan to produce its own processors aims to increase control over the components used in its operations, although large-scale production remains a future goal.