SpaceX is planning to raise about $40 billion — roughly $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt — to pay for a huge order of Nvidia artificial intelligence chips, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The financing would be led by asset manager Apollo Global Management, with bond giant Pimco among a small group of lenders in talks to fund the transaction, which is expected to close in 2027, according to the report first covered by Reuters.

Table of Contents

  1. The reported deal structure
  2. What the chips are for: Colossus and Grok
  3. A June IPO, a July pivot, an October shopping spree
  4. The $1.5 trillion question: who funds the AI boom
  5. Market reaction and what comes next
  6. Key takeaways
  7. Frequently Asked Questions
  8. Sources
  9. Related reading

The reported deal structure

The plan, as described in the FT's reporting, splits the $40 billion into two layers: around $10 billion in bank loans and roughly $30 billion in investment-grade debt. Apollo is expected not just to anchor the financing but to place the debt with a broad set of investors — a syndication job that would test how deep institutional appetite still runs for AI-linked credit.

Neither SpaceX, Apollo, Nvidia nor Pimco immediately responded to Reuters' requests for comment, and Pimco declined to comment, which is typical at this stage of deal negotiations. Nothing is final until documents are signed, and terms can shift — but the contours of the package are striking: this is a debt raise comparable in size to some of the largest leveraged buyouts in history, assembled not to acquire a company, but to acquire processors.

What the chips are for: Colossus and Grok

The destination for all that silicon is SpaceX's AI computing operation. Elon Musk said last month that the company's Colossus 2 data center could more than double the number of Nvidia chips it uses by December, and has said the company will use Nvidia hardware exclusively to build its data centers.

SpaceX absorbed Musk's xAI before going public in June in a record IPO of about $86 billion, and it runs the Grok AI model through its Colossus data centers. It also rents out computing capacity on Colossus to other AI developers — mainly Anthropic and Google, the InvestingLive summary of the report noted — turning its infrastructure into a revenue stream as well as an asset for its own models.

A June IPO, a July pivot, an October shopping spree

Context matters here. SpaceX's June public listing — the largest IPO on record at roughly $86 billion — gave the rocket company a currency of listed equity and a public market audience. Since then it has been rapidly repositioning itself as an AI infrastructure company as much as a launch company. The reported Nvidia order is the clearest signal yet of that pivot: Musk is not merely building data centers, he is attempting to build them at a scale that competes with the hyperscalers themselves.

The exclusive-Nvidia commitment is also notable. At a moment when many AI labs are experimenting with alternative accelerators to diversify supply, SpaceX is going all-in on Nvidia's ecosystem — software, networking and chips included.

The $1.5 trillion question: who funds the AI boom

The most important paragraph in the FT's reporting may not be about SpaceX at all. Morgan Stanley estimates that AI infrastructure will require $1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028, even as lenders and investors grow more cautious about funding the industry's expansion.

That tension — between virtually unlimited appetite for compute and increasingly selective capital — is the defining financial question of the AI boom. Nvidia itself partnered in August with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR on financing platforms intended to mobilise more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure projects. In other words, the same institutions lending SpaceX the money to buy Nvidia's chips are partners in platforms Nvidia itself helped stand up. The AI economy is becoming a closed loop of capital recycling, and understanding who carries the risk when the music slows is essential.

Market reaction and what comes next

Shares of the newly public SpaceX fell about 1% in extended trading after the report — investors weighing the cost of leverage — while Nvidia's stock rose about 0.5%, lifted by the prospect of a monster order. With Wall Street already flying at record highs on AI bets, every financing of this scale becomes a referendum on how long the boom can be funded before the returns have to show up.

If the deal closes in 2027 as expected, it would set a new benchmark for tech debt financing and lock in a deep strategic alignment between Musk's empire and Nvidia. Watch the syndication: if Apollo can place $30 billion of investment-grade paper smoothly, the bond market is still willing to underwrite the AI future. If not, it will be one of the first clear signals that even the most hyped capex cycle in history has a financing limit.

Key takeaways

  • SpaceX reportedly plans to raise $40 billion — $10B in bank loans plus $30B in investment-grade debt — to buy Nvidia AI chips, per the Financial Times.
  • Apollo Global Management is expected to lead the financing, with Pimco among lenders in talks; the deal could close in 2027.
  • The chips would power SpaceX's Colossus data centers and Grok AI, which also rents compute to Anthropic and Google.
  • Morgan Stanley estimates AI infrastructure will need $1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028 — a figure that frames this deal as both symptom and test of the boom's funding model.
  • SpaceX shares dipped ~1% after hours while Nvidia rose ~0.5% on the news.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does SpaceX need $40 billion in Nvidia chips?

The company is scaling up its Colossus data centers, which run the Grok AI model and rent computing capacity to other developers. Musk said last month that Colossus 2 alone could more than double its Nvidia chip count by December, and the company has committed to using Nvidia hardware exclusively.

Who is financing the deal?

Apollo Global Management is expected to lead the financing and help place the debt with a broad range of investors. Bond manager Pimco is reportedly among a small group of lenders in talks. The package is expected to comprise about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt.

How does this connect to the June IPO?

SpaceX went public in June in a record IPO of about $86 billion, after absorbing Musk's xAI. The listing gave it public-market access, but this $40 billion raise would be debt rather than equity — a sign the company wants to preserve equity while scaling infrastructure fast.

What is the Morgan Stanley $1.5 trillion estimate?

Morgan Stanley estimates AI infrastructure will require $1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028, even as lenders grow more cautious. The SpaceX deal is one of the first concrete tests of whether capital markets will underwrite capex of that magnitude.

When would the transaction close?

According to the FT's reporting, the transaction is expected to close in 2027. Nothing has been signed, and neither SpaceX, Apollo, Nvidia nor Pimco has confirmed the terms.

Sources

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