SpaceX plans to raise US$40-billion, led by asset manager Apollo Global Management, to buy Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Elon Musk-led company is looking to raise about $10-billion in bank loans and $30-billion in investment-grade debt for the chip order, the report said.
The proposed funding underscores the enormous capital requirements of the AI boom, as tech companies race to secure advanced processors and build the computing infrastructure needed to support AI development.
Morgan Stanley estimates 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.
Apollo is expected to lead the SpaceX deal and help place the debt with a broad range of investors, with bond fund manager Pimco among a small group of lenders in talks to provide financing, the newspaper reported. The transaction is expected to close in 2027.
Shares in the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer fell 1% in extended trading after the report, while Nvidia’s rose 0.5%. SpaceX, Apollo and Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Pimco declined to comment.
Doubling by December
Musk, who took SpaceX public in June in a record $86-billion initial public offering, said last month that the Colossus 2 data centre built by xAI – the AI company SpaceX acquired in February – could more than double the number of Nvidia chips it uses by December.
The company plans to use Nvidia hardware exclusively to build its data centres, Musk said.
Nvidia, the dominant supplier of AI processors, 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. — Rishabh Jaiswal, (c) 2026 Reuters
