SpaceX signs $40B chip lease with Apollo to power AI

SpaceX won't buy these chips outright. It will rent them. A company managed by Apollo Global Management will purchase about $40 billion of graphics chips, called GPUs, plus related equipment. Then it leases them to SpaceX for data centers SpaceX picks. The deal was announced Oct. 26.

A GPU is the kind of chip that trains and runs AI systems. Leasing spreads the cost over time instead of paying for everything up front. The deal isn't final yet. It must meet closing conditions. Apollo expects it to close before the end of 2026. Lease terms begin when the chips are delivered. That is expected in the first half of 2027. Apollo calls this the largest GPU financing ever. Treat that as Apollo's framing, not a verified record.

Keep reading — what to watch

Will the deal close on schedule? Apollo says it expects that before the end of 2026. Then watch the first deliveries in the first half of 2027. That is when the leases begin. Watch where SpaceX builds, too. SpaceX chooses the data center sites, so that is where the chips will end up.