Elon Musk’s SpaceX has announced its plans to invest more than $74 billion in to of its artificial intelligence computing campuses in Texas and Arizona. With this investment the company aims to expand its ambitions beyond rockets and Starklink satellite internet. According to a report by Reuters, the projects also include a proposed $50 billion campus in Arizona which would create 6,500 jobs but is facing opposition from local residents. In a statement on November 12, SpaceX said that it expects to spend more than $24 billion on a supercomputing facility at its Starbase site in Texas and approximately $50 billion on a second campus in Cochise County, Arizona.The proposed Arizona facility, which requires approval from Cochise County, is expected to generate around 5,500 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent positions. However, the project has drawn resistance from some residents. A petition carrying 2,400 signatures has urged local officials to reject the permit, with a public hearing scheduled for December.SpaceX said it is working with local electric cooperatives and claimed the project could reduce electricity bills for cooperative members by up to 20%. The company also said the facility would use dry cooling and would not rely on industrial groundwater use.
SpaceX’s $24 billion Texas AI computing campus
The second project is planned at SpaceX’s Starbase site in Texas, where the company intends to invest more than $24 billion in a supercomputing facility and power infrastructure. A city notice published earlier this week outlined plans for a gas-fired power plant and supercomputing facility spread across approximately 444 acres. SpaceX said the Texas campus would generate its own electricity rather than draw power from the public grid.The project has already generated more than 3,000 construction jobs and is expected to support over 500 permanent jobs once operational. The Starbase City Commission is scheduled to consider a property tax abatement for the project on December 9.
AI business becomes major revenue driver for SpaceX
As per the Reuters report, the planned investment from SpaceX comes at a time when AI computing is becoming a crucial and important part of SpaceX’s business. The AI segment of the company generated more than half of its revenue in the third quarter, this clearly highlights its increasing focus beyond rocket launches and satellite internet services. The two campuses in which SpaceX is planning to invest is said to expand the computing infrastructure of the company as it continues to invest in AI capabilities along with its present space and communications businesses.