SpaceX wants to borrow $40 billion to buy Nvidia chips. The Elon Musk-led company is in early discussions to raise roughly $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt, led by asset manager Apollo Global Management, to fund a massive order of Nvidia AI processors, the Financial Times reported on October 6. If completed, the SpaceX $40 billion Nvidia chips deal would rank among the largest debt financings ever tied to the AI buildout, according to Reuters’ reporting on the FT story.
The transaction is expected to close in 2027. Apollo is expected to lead the deal and help place the debt with a broad range of investors, with bond fund Pimco among a small group of lenders in talks to provide financing, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of the rocket company fell 1% in extended trading after the report, while Nvidia’s stock rose 0.5%. SpaceX, Apollo and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment; Pimco declined to comment.
What the SpaceX $40 Billion Nvidia Chips Deal Would Fund
The money is earmarked for one thing: Nvidia hardware to power SpaceX’s AI ambitions after it absorbed xAI in a merger completed in February 2026. Musk said last month that xAI’s Colossus 2 data center could more than double its Nvidia chip count by December, and that the company plans to use Nvidia hardware exclusively to build its data centers. During SpaceX’s August earnings call, Musk said the company had decided to build exclusively on Nvidia because it considered the Vera Rubin architecture the best available, per reports on the call.
The deal is new money — not a refinancing — earmarked specifically for chip procurement. That distinction matters because SpaceX already holds roughly $39 billion in long-term debt, largely from a $25 billion investment-grade bond offering in June and the bridge loan taken on for the xAI merger. If the $40 billion raise succeeds, it would be the single largest debt financing explicitly tied to a chip purchase ever attempted, and would take SpaceX’s total debt load above $79 billion.
Apollo, Pimco and the AI Infrastructure Debt Boom
The structure shows how far AI infrastructure financing has evolved. Apollo would lead and distribute the debt broadly across institutional investors, and SpaceX’s BBB credit rating — the second-lowest investment-grade ranking — opens the bonds to insurance and pension funds hunting for yield. Pimco’s presence among the small group of lenders in talks signals that mainstream fixed-income giants now treat AI chip purchases as a durable, financeable asset class.
The numbers behind that shift are staggering. Morgan Stanley estimates AI infrastructure will require $1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028, even as lenders grow more cautious about funding the industry’s expansion. Nvidia, for its part, in August partnered with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR on financing platforms intended to mobilize more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure projects — the same AI-hardware financing wave that is minting multibillion-dollar chip startups.
Musk’s AI Ambitions Are Driving the Borrowing
The borrowing spree is the financial expression of Musk’s pivot from rockets to intelligence. Musk took SpaceX public in June in a record $86 billion IPO, then folded xAI into the company to create a vertically integrated AI power — the rockets, the satellites, the models and now the debt-financed data centers. The move has also reshaped the billionaire wealth rankings, but for investors the question is simpler: can AI revenue justify the leverage?
The market’s first verdict was cautious. SpaceX shares slipped 1% in extended trading after the FT report — not a panic, but a recognition that tens of billions in new debt, on top of an already heavy balance sheet, raises the stakes on execution. The chips have to arrive, the data centers have to be built, and the AI workloads have to pay for it all.
What Comes Next: A 2027 Close, If Talks Hold
The deal remains in talks — nothing is signed, and the structure could change. What is confirmed is the direction of travel: the biggest AI programs are increasingly financed like industrial megaprojects, with chips as the capital asset and Wall Street as the backer. If Apollo closes the SpaceX $40 billion Nvidia chips financing in 2027 as the FT’s sources suggest, it will be the clearest signal yet that the AI buildout has become a debt market of its own, as BusinessWorld’s coverage of the report noted.
For now, the talks themselves tell the story: SpaceX, once funded on rockets and satellites, is preparing to borrow like a power company to feed an AI appetite that keeps doubling.
FAQ
How much is SpaceX trying to raise?
SpaceX is in talks to raise $40 billion — about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt — led by Apollo Global Management, according to the Financial Times. The transaction is expected to close in 2027.
What would the $40 billion fund?
The money is earmarked specifically for a massive Nvidia AI chip purchase to power SpaceX’s AI ambitions after its February 2026 absorption of xAI, including xAI’s Colossus 2 data center. It is new money, not a refinancing.
Who is leading the SpaceX debt deal?
Apollo Global Management is expected to lead the transaction and distribute the debt broadly across institutional investors. Bond fund Pimco is among a small group of lenders in talks to provide capital, per the FT.
How did markets react to the SpaceX $40 billion news?
SpaceX shares fell about 1% in extended trading after the report, while Nvidia’s stock rose 0.5%. SpaceX, Apollo and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment; Pimco declined to comment.
Sources: Reuters via Superhits 97.9, BusinessWorld / Reuters
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