Elon Musk Says SpaceX Locked In $40B of GPU Debt as Lenders Pull Back

Image: SpaceX

Elon Musk says SpaceX has closed $40 billion of debt to pay for GPUs, even as lenders pull back from much of the AI industry. The new money would help fund the next phase of the Colossus GPU buildout in Memphis.

Musk shared the figure on X on Sunday, October 25, at 12:11 PM PT, in a reply to venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya. He said that over the past few weeks, debt markets “have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers.” According to Musk, SpaceX still got its deal done because “we’re investment grade and have Starlink & launch revenue.”

Pretty much.

As of the past few weeks, debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers.

SpaceX closed $40B of debt for GPUs, but we’re investment grade and have Starlink & launch revenue.

That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2026

About 40 minutes later, Musk added more detail in a reply to Sawyer Merritt. “This is primarily callable debt for GPU purchases that will arrive in Q1 and Q2,” he wrote, which points to the first half of 2027, adding that it’s “not a major factor this quarter.” Callable debt gives the borrower the option to repay it before it matures. Musk didn’t name the lenders, the interest rate, the maturity or the date the deal closed, and SpaceX hasn’t issued a separate announcement.

Palihapitiya’s original post laid out why the timing matters. Writing as an owner of energized land for data centers, he said neoclouds are “disorganized and poorly capitalized,” and he expects a lot of stranded or underused compute in 2027 as the industry clears out bad bets. Neoclouds are the newer cloud companies, such as CoreWeave and Lambda, that mostly rent out GPU capacity to AI developers and often lean heavily on borrowed money to buy chips. Musk agreed with that read, saying “the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation.”

When another user suggested SpaceX wanted to drive those companies down so some would accept buyouts, Musk shut the idea down at 2:01 PM PT. “SpaceX is not buying any neoclouds. Pointless,” he wrote.

The debt lines up with what SpaceX told investors earlier this month. On its Q3 earnings call on October 20, SpaceX’s CFO said fourth-quarter capital expenditures should land between $35 billion and $40 billion, and Musk said the company is tracking to bring roughly 200,000 GB300 chips online every month for the rest of the year, with next year shifting mostly to Nvidia’s Vera Rubin hardware.

Spending at that pace is already showing up in the numbers. SpaceX’s third quarter results showed $19.6 billion in capex, with $16.4 billion going into the Super Intelligence business, and a $4.4 billion profit on $14.6 billion in revenue. The company ended September with $51.3 billion in cash plus $38.6 billion in marketable securities.

Borrowing while holding a big cash pile isn’t new for SpaceX either. In June, the company went to the bond market for the first time even though it had $100.8 billion in cash as of June 19, using the proceeds to pay off a bridge loan. Media mogul John Malone has also predicted SpaceX could put up to $10 billion into Skydance, though neither company has announced anything.

With lenders tightening up on AI companies that lack outside revenue, Musk’s point is that Starlink and launch income give SpaceX access to money that most of its rivals can’t get right now.

Do you think SpaceX’s ability to borrow while others can’t will help it pull ahead in the AI compute race?