SpaceX is in talks with banks and asset managers to raise $40 billion to buy Nvidia artificial intelligence chips, Reuters reported on 6 October 2026, citing two sources familiar with the matter and confirming an earlier story by the Financial Times. According to a source cited by Reuters, the plan is about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt.
On our arithmetic, that is more than the debt principal SpaceX reported at the end of June. Its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 lists $38,433 million in aggregate principal amount of indebtedness, up from $22,049 million on 31 December 2025.
Reuters said SpaceX is in talks with asset manager PIMCO for financing, according to one of its sources, and that Apollo is expected to lead the deal and help place the debt with a broad range of investors, as the Financial Times reported.
SpaceX and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters said, while Apollo and PIMCO declined to comment. The sources declined to be identified because the deal is still not public.
Reuters also reported that Musk said last month that xAI’s Colossus 2 data center could more than double the number of Nvidia chips it uses by December, and that the company plans to use Nvidia hardware exclusively to build its data centers.
SpaceX’s debt principal from its own 10-Q ($22.0 billion at 31 December 2025, $38.4 billion at 30 June 2026) against the $40 billion raise Reuters reported on 6 October 2026, which is talks, not a closed deal.
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The key insight: As we read it, the reported raise matters less as a chip order than as a balance-sheet event: on SpaceX’s own 10-Q figures, $40 billion is more than its entire debt principal at 30 June 2026, and Reuters’ source puts three-quarters of it in investment-grade debt. No rate, maturity or collateral has been reported.
What SpaceX’s Own Filing Shows
SpaceX’s 10-Q puts total debt and finance leases at $39,512 million on 30 June 2026. The largest piece is $25,000 million of senior unsecured notes issued in June 2026 in five tranches maturing between July 2031 and July 2056, with a weighted average maturity of 11.7 years.
A further $13,406 million sits under “Other financings”, which the filing says includes “obligations related to certain AI infrastructure assets recorded as failed sale-leaseback transactions”. At 31 December 2025 that line was $4,562 million.
In the six months to 30 June 2026, purchases of property, plant and equipment were $28,476 million, against $6,965 million a year earlier, while net cash provided by operating activities was $3,466 million.
The filing also lists $27,955 million of non-cancelable contractual commitments, which it says are “primarily related to the Company’s investments in AI infrastructure and third-party cloud capacity arrangements”. Of that, $22,244 million falls in 2027.
From SpaceX’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026: purchases of property, plant and equipment of $28,476 million in the first half (against $6,965 million a year earlier), net cash from operations of $3,466 million, and $27,955 million of non-cancelable commitments, $22,244 million of them in 2027.
How the Reported Raise Compares
On our arithmetic, a $40 billion raise is larger than the $38,433 million of debt principal SpaceX reported at the end of June, and about 1.8 times the $22,049 million it reported at the end of 2025. The reported split puts three-quarters of it, $30 billion, in investment-grade debt.
Reuters set the deal against the wider market: Morgan Stanley estimates that AI infrastructure will require $1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028. It also noted that Nvidia 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 Structural Read
The 10-Q shows how fast the borrowing has already grown: debt principal rose from $22,049 million at 31 December 2025 to $38,433 million at 30 June 2026, with $25,000 million of notes issued in June.
Part of SpaceX’s existing AI infrastructure is already financed off the usual route: the filing says its $13,406 million of “Other financings” includes obligations on AI infrastructure assets recorded as failed sale-leaseback transactions.
As we read it, the commitments line explains the timing: $22,244 million of the $27,955 million in non-cancelable commitments falls in 2027, and the 10-Q says they relate primarily to AI infrastructure and third-party cloud capacity.
SpaceX Form 10-Q, quarter ended 30 June 2026
“obligations related to certain AI infrastructure assets recorded as failed sale-leaseback transactions”
Three Implications
SPACEX Reuters reports talks to raise about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt for an Nvidia chip order; the 10-Q shows $38,433 million of debt principal at 30 June 2026.
NVIDIA Reuters reports that Musk said SpaceX plans to use Nvidia hardware exclusively for its data centers, and that Nvidia in August partnered with Apollo and others on financing platforms intended to mobilize more than $500 billion.
AI LENDERS Reuters reports Apollo is expected to lead and place the debt, as the FT reported, with PIMCO in talks; Morgan Stanley estimates AI infrastructure will require $1.5 trillion in external financing by 2028.
The framework puts it this way: “The thesis: the capex race is no longer a corporate spending cycle. It is a sovereign-scale financing problem dressed in tech-company clothing — and the financial architecture is starting to invert.”
As we read it, a single company seeking $40 billion of debt for one chip order, more than its existing debt principal, is that financing problem at the scale of one balance sheet.
What Is Not Established
The reporting gives no interest rate, maturity, collateral or closing date, and no lender commitment beyond the talks. We read Reuters’ two reports in full; the Financial Times article is paywalled, so its details reach us only as Reuters reports them.
SpaceX had not filed an 8-K on the financing in the EDGAR filing list we checked on 13 October 2026, where the most recent 8-K is dated 14 August 2026. The 10-Q figures are as of 30 June 2026 and do not include any later borrowing.
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The AI Capex Map
A Business Engineer map of how the AI build-out is being financed: who spends, who lends, and where the money cracks.
Reuters reported on 6 October 2026 that SpaceX is in talks to raise $40 billion, about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt, to buy Nvidia chips, with Apollo expected to lead, as the Financial Times reported. SpaceX’s own 10-Q shows $38,433 million of debt at 30 June 2026 and $27,955 million of non-cancelable commitments, mostly for AI infrastructure.
A note on sourcing. This piece is based on Reuters reporting of 6 and 7 October 2026, which confirmed an earlier Financial Times story; we read both Reuters reports in full on 13 October 2026. The FT article is paywalled and was not read, so its details appear only as Reuters reports them. Figures on SpaceX’s debt, spending and commitments come from its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, read on SEC EDGAR; the comparisons are our own arithmetic.
SpaceX had filed no 8-K on the financing in the EDGAR list we checked on 13 October 2026, and Reuters reported that SpaceX and Nvidia did not immediately respond while Apollo and PIMCO declined to comment. Nothing here is a forecast, and nothing here is financial or investment advice.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur, HackerNoon and Search Engine People. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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