Musk switches to natural gas power supply, SpaceX lays out its own energy system for AI infrastructure

Comparatively, as demand for AI computing power grows rapidly, Elon Musk's SpaceX is increasingly using natural gas energy to power its large-scale AI infrastructure.

According to reports, SpaceX plans to support the construction of a gas power plant for a chip manufacturing facility located in Texas with an investment of 16.8 billion US dollars. Meanwhile, the company's data centers in Tennessee and Mississippi have deployed dozens of gas turbines to meet AI computing needs.

Musk expects the SpaceX data center's computing power capacity to reach 10GW to 15GW by 2027, when the company may become one of the largest AI data center operators in the US.

Against the backdrop of bursting demand for AI computing power and difficulties in matching the speed of power grid expansion, SpaceX is exploring an “off-grid power” (off-grid power) model to quickly obtain stable electricity through self-built natural gas power generation facilities to support the expansion of AI chips, data centers, and future computing infrastructure.

This strategy also reflects the expansion of competition in the AI industry from chips and models to energy and power infrastructure. As large technology companies compete for computing power resources, being able to quickly secure power supply is becoming a key competitive factor in AI infrastructure construction.