Elon Musk’s SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) plans to invest more than $74 billion in AI supercomputing facilities across Texas and Arizona, expanding a business that now generates more revenue than its rockets and Starlink operations combined.
The company plans roughly $50 billion for an Arizona campus and more than $24 billion for a Texas facility with its own gas-fired power plant, Reuters reported Thursday.
SpaceX’s AI division generated $7.56 billion in third-quarter revenue, more than half the company’s $14.6 billion total.
Musk has acknowledged just how difficult the expansion could be.
“It is extraordinarily difficult to bring on compute at scale,” he said at the Baron Investment Conference on Nov. 6.
Arizona’s 6-Gigawatt Power Challenge
The proposed Arizona campus would cover 747 acres in Cochise County, with up to nine computing buildings requiring an estimated 6 gigawatts of electricity at full build-out.
That’s nearly ten times the 626-megawatt capacity of the nearby Apache Generating Station, Data Center Dynamics reports.
Local supplier Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative has yet to finalize a power agreement, while the developer estimates $3.6 billion in transmission and substation upgrades.
“The pitchfork level for data centers is pretty high,” Musk joked at the same conference.
A petition opposing the project has attracted 2,400 signatures. SpaceX says the development could lower residents’ electricity bills, cut property taxes by 20% and use dry cooling to limit water consumption.
Cochise County officials will consider the project on Dec. 9.
Texas Takes a Different Approach
At Starbase, SpaceX plans to generate its own power through a gas-fired plant, potentially reducing its reliance on Texas grid connections.
The $24 billion investment covers the project’s initial development phases, with further expansion possible.
Starbase city commissioners will consider a property-tax abatement on Dec. 9, the same day Cochise County reviews the Arizona proposal.
Polymarket traders give SpaceX a 35% chance of ending November with a market capitalization between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion, close to its current $1.9 trillion valuation.
The market assigns a further 33% probability to a valuation between $2 trillion and $2.25 trillion, with approximately $45,000 traded.
SpaceX’s Spending Is Accelerating
SpaceX spent approximately $48 billion on capital expenditures in the first nine months of 2026, including nearly $40 billion on AI infrastructure.
The $74 billion project figure represents planned investment over time and may overlap with existing commitments.
SpaceX expects another $35 billion to $40 billion in fourth-quarter capital expenditures, roughly double the $19.6 billion spent in the third quarter, according to its third-quarter earnings call.
SpaceX shares are trading around $142 Thursday, up about 2%.
Image: Shutterstock