SpaceX stock SPCX gained 6% on Friday after CEO Elon Musk said the company could reach a potentially significant milestone in powering Nvidia’s artificial intelligence hardware.
Musk said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “cautiously optimistic” that SpaceX could run its version of Nvidia’s VR72 system at close to 250 kilowatts of average power, with peak power potentially about 10% higher.
He described the development as a “big deal” if it succeeds and said it could also apply to SpaceX’s ground-based systems.
Musk attributed the potential achievement to the close working relationship between SpaceX and Nvidia.
He said co-design efforts with Nvidia’s engineering team were key to reaching the higher power levels.
SpaceX targets higher Nvidia AI power levels
Running AI hardware at sustained power levels above typical estimates could allow SpaceX to maintain high utilisation of the systems.
Musk did not specify which AI workloads the system would support.
Aaron Burnett, founder and CEO of space-focused investment and research firm Mach33, said on X that 250 kilowatts of average power could translate into battery-supported peaks of around 275 kilowatts.
Burnett estimated Musk’s target would be 10% to 25% above typical third-party reported averages for VR72 systems.
He also said SpaceX’s StarMind team would need, or may already have, a system capable of continuously removing the heat generated by a sustained 250-kilowatt load.
Burnett said the joint Nvidia and SpaceX teams could potentially achieve the target.
AI infrastructure becomes a larger SpaceX focus
Musk’s comments highlight the growing role of AI infrastructure in SpaceX’s business.
The company has disclosed major computing agreements involving Nvidia hardware.
Google is expected to pay SpaceX $920 million per month from October 2026 through June 2029 for access to 110,000 Nvidia GPUs, CPUs, memory and related equipment.
SpaceX has also disclosed an agreement with Anthropic under which the AI company would pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for output from SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data centre near Memphis.
The agreement includes termination provisions for either party.
UBS recently estimated that SpaceX could generate $7.6 billion in third-quarter AI revenue, supported by the Anthropic ramp and an early contribution from Google.
The firm expects total third-quarter revenue of $13.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $7.5 billion, compared with Street estimates of $12.9 billion and $6.9 billion, respectively.
UBS also estimated SpaceX’s third-quarter capital expenditure at $19.3 billion and cash burn at $13.2 billion.
Starship milestone caps busy week
SpaceX’s AI developments came during a milestone-heavy week for the company.
On Monday, Starship Flight 14 reached orbit for the first time and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, marking its first orbital payload.
Musk later said all 26 satellites had been deployed and were operating normally.
The mission ended earlier than initially planned after one of Starship’s three Raptor engines shut down following separation from Super Heavy.
The mission lasted about three hours instead of the planned 10 hours, leaving Flight 15 and progress towards vehicle recovery and reuse as the next major tests.
SpaceX also conducted three orbital launches on Thursday.
Falcon 9 launched NASA’s Crew-13 aboard Dragon Grace, while the company also conducted the Transporter-18 rideshare mission with about 130 payloads and the Falcon Heavy NROL-97 national-security mission.
Meanwhile, Evercore ISI reiterated its Outperform rating on SpaceX and highlighted Grok as an underappreciated part of the company’s AI story.
The firm noted that Grok launched before Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots, while describing it as a potentially significant component of the broader SpaceX AI story.
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