SpaceX's AI Pivot Concentrates Capital Under Musk

SpaceX reported $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue, and artificial intelligence accounted for 52% of its income as CEO Elon Musk's company expanded its AI business and data-center operations. TechCrunch reported that data centers and Grok agents proved more profitable than investors expected, as the company shifted attention from its roots as a space company toward artificial intelligence. The figures show where the company is directing its money and engineering power: into a business Musk says will scale at extraordinary speed.

Who Controls the Capital

The company's renamed "Super Intelligence" business line generated $7.5 billion in revenue. It includes the recently acquired Cursor coding tool, the Grok bot and the company's growing neocloud business, which had 1.7 GW of compute. The AI business generated $431 million in profit, before $1.2 billion in one-time stock-based compensation expenses related to the Cursor acquisition. The company said that expense reduced what the business otherwise would've earned.

SpaceX reported $4.4 billion in net income for the quarter, compared with a $1 billion loss in the same quarter last year. Across the first nine months of the year, however, it still recorded a net income loss of $413 million. The company also reported about $1 billion in income related to the recovery of Bitcoin prices, along with unspecified related-party income that might be attributed to a SpaceX investment in another company.

The company spent $19.6 billion on capital expenditures. CFO Bret Johnsen said SpaceX would spend $35 billion to $40 billion on new capital investments in the fourth quarter. Those are decisions made at the top of a corporation, and the report centers the story on returns, infrastructure and investor expectations; it offers no account of any community response or who outside the company bears the costs of those investments.

Power, Infrastructure and the Bosses

SpaceX is building a second data-center project, Colossus II, while increasing investment in Starship, its heavy-lift rocket. The company sees Starship as key to deploying a new generation of Starlink satellites and developing orbital data centers. Musk said during a live-streamed discussion with investors that he was spending four days a week in Memphis, Tennessee, where Colossus II is located, working to bring the data center online.

Musk said power, cooling and infrastructure—not chips—posed the main constraint on deploying super intelligence. He described SpaceX's advantage this way: "This is a bit like the New York Yankees playing in Little League. It's not fair, but the net result is being able to deploy power cooling infrastructure at a rate that is vastly faster than any anyone else," he said, adding that he had assigned SpaceX engineers to address the issue. Speed, in this account, comes from concentrated corporate resources and engineers directed by the company's chief executive.

Musk also said manufacturers of turbines used to power data centers faced 12 to 18 month delays in obtaining the metal blades and vanes needed for the machines. SpaceX was using metal-casting capabilities it developed for the company to make those components and obtain turbines more quickly. The report describes an internal corporate response to a supply constraint, not a community-led alternative.

Growth Promises, Next Steps

SpaceX expected the next Starship test flight in November and planned to try to recover both the first-stage booster and the second stage. Musk called recovering both segments a "massive technology milestone," while saying the true milestone would be reflying both stages. Starlink had 13.6 million consumer subscribers, and Musk predicted AI agents would increase demand for connectivity.

Musk predicted annual recurring revenue for the Super Intelligence business would reach "somewhere between $500 billion and $1 trillion" by the end of 2027. Johnsen forecast total first-quarter 2027 revenue of $33 billion to $37 billion. Those projections frame the company's future in terms of growth and capital deployment; the report contains no electoral or legislative remedy, nonprofit role, or grassroots organizing response.