- SpaceX wants to build and power its own AI supercomputer. The company is planning a $24 billion project at Starbase, Texas, that pairs a “super-compute facility” with a natural gas power plant, according to a city notice cited by CoinDesk.
- The power plant is the standout. It would reportedly run on 35 turbines and produce 748 megawatts, a sharp contrast to most AI data centers, which plug into the local grid. Anthropic recently agreed to buy 1.7 gigawatts of gas-fired generators for $3.4 billion.
- The bitcoin angle is scale. The project is roughly 17 times the value of SpaceX’s bitcoin holdings: the company held 18,712 bitcoin worth about $1.39 billion, according to Bitcointreasuries.net data cited by CoinDesk.
- Texas politics could complicate it. SpaceX is seeking a property tax abatement with a public hearing set for Dec. 9, while Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who campaigned against AI data centers, won the governor’s race on Nov. 3.
What Happened?
SpaceX, which went public in June in the largest IPO in history, is planning a $24 billion supercomputing facility and natural gas power plant in Starbase, the Cameron County city built around its main rocket factory and launch site, CoinDesk reported. “SpaceX proposes to construct, own, and operate a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility,” the city notice says. The proposed plant would reportedly use 35 turbines to generate 748 megawatts. The city commission is slated to hold a public hearing on Dec. 9 on a property tax abatement that would cut SpaceX’s taxes and let it use the Cameron County Enterprise Zone for the project. SpaceX’s AI push is recent: in February, Elon Musk merged xAI into SpaceX in a stock swap that valued the combined company at about $1.25 trillion.
Why It Matters?
The plan shows AI builders bypassing utilities to lock in their own power, a trend that turns data center growth into a natural gas demand story for producers, turbine makers and pipeline operators. SpaceX joins Anthropic, which agreed to buy 1.7 gigawatts of gas-fired generators for $3.4 billion, in securing generation directly. For crypto investors, the $24 billion price tag dwarfs SpaceX’s roughly $1.39 billion bitcoin stash, a reminder that corporate treasuries holding bitcoin can be overshadowed by much larger AI capital commitments.
What’s Next?
The Dec. 9 tax hearing is the next milestone. The bigger hurdle may be state policy: Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost the Nov. 3 race, ordered a pause on Aug. 3 so no more data centers can move through the state grid operator’s connection process until regulators finish an audit that also covers on-site generation, and Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned against the facilities. It remains to be seen whether SpaceX’s own plant lets it sidestep those reviews.
Affected Tickers and Coins: BTC
Source: CoinDesk
