🚀 Musk-scale ambition: SpaceX to build its own AI supercomputer and gas-fired power plant for $24 billion
Elon Musk’s company plans to deploy a massive computing center right at its Starbase facility in Texas. To avoid relying on the overloaded local power grid, SpaceX has designed its own 748 MW gas turbine power plant. The artificial intelligence boom is turning into a race for energy resources: tech giants no longer want to wait for utilities to come through and are taking power generation into their own hands.
Key details of the megaproject:
Cost: $24 billion—about 17 times the value of all the bitcoin currently held on SpaceX’s balance sheet (18,712 BTC worth around $1.39 billion).
Political obstacle: The project could face fierce opposition from officials. Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the recent Texas gubernatorial election and has actively opposed the unchecked proliferation of energy-hungry data centers in the state.
A hearing on tax incentives for the project is scheduled for December 9, and this case will show whether Musk’s own power plant can help him get around regulatory restrictions.
Elon Musk’s company plans to deploy a massive computing center right at its Starbase facility in Texas. To avoid relying on the overloaded local power grid, SpaceX has designed its own 748 MW gas turbine power plant. The artificial intelligence boom is turning into a race for energy resources: tech giants no longer want to wait for utilities to come through and are taking power generation into their own hands.
Key details of the megaproject:
Cost: $24 billion—about 17 times the value of all the bitcoin currently held on SpaceX’s balance sheet (18,712 BTC worth around $1.39 billion).
Political obstacle: The project could face fierce opposition from officials. Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the recent Texas gubernatorial election and has actively opposed the unchecked proliferation of energy-hungry data centers in the state.
A hearing on tax incentives for the project is scheduled for December 9, and this case will show whether Musk’s own power plant can help him get around regulatory restrictions.
