Space X talks to provide computing power support for Pentagon AI plan
Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) is negotiating cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense and plans to provide the military with data center computing resources worth billions of dollars for running artificial intelligence models. This move will further deepen the partnership between Elon Musk’s companies and the Pentagon. According to people familiar with the matter, the two parties are negotiating a cooperation plan, with SpaceX providing computing power services to the Department of Defense, and the amount of cooperation can reach up to billions of dollars; relevant negotiations are still advancing, and there is a possibility that the negotiations will break down. Multiple sources familiar with the company's plans said SpaceX has partnered with Anthropic, Signed a similar computing power supply agreement, and currently plans to significantly expand its cloud computing business. Another person familiar with the matter said that SpaceX has discussed business plans internally in recent weeks, intending to lower its computing power pricing, directly compete with existing computing power service providers such as CoreWeave, and sell computing power resources to AI enterprise customers. If cooperation with the Department of Defense is reached, this will be another cooperation agreement between SpaceX and the Pentagon. The Pentagon has long relied on SpaceX to provide rocket launch services and operate communications and missile tracking satellites. Some national security officials are concerned that the Department of Defense is too reliant on Musk's services; in addition, Musk has invested huge sums of money in Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, and outsiders have questioned whether there is a conflict of interest. However, White House officials have denied relevant accusations. Like many large enterprises, the U.S. Department of Defense is stepping up its efforts to reserve cloud computing computing power to meet the daily AI application needs of intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency and frontline combatants. It is the core computing power supplier of the Pentagon and plans to invest US$50 billion to expand computing power facilities, focusing on serving national defense agencies; , Google parent company Alphabet, It is also a mainstream cloud service provider for the Ministry of Defense. Pentagon officials said that as the U.S. military fully implements artificial intelligence applications, the military hopes to reduce its dependence on a single technology company. The Ministry of National Defense has recently approved a number of companies to provide AI models and supporting technologies for classified scenarios. The list includes SpaceX, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle. Earlier this year, the Department of Defense had cooperation differences with Anthropic, which also caused concerns within the military that the computing power supply was locked in by a single vendor. The Pentagon is applying for a $30 billion budget for a new special program called the Artificial Intelligence Arsenal. The core goal of this project is to stockpile high-end AI chips. The Department of Defense has listed this project in the fiscal year 2027 budget request supporting documents, and Congress is currently reviewing this budget plan. SpaceX recently completed the acquisition of Musk’s xAI and went public, and the Grok large model and supporting data center were officially integrated into the company’s business. In order to seize the AI computing power track, SpaceX quickly built multiple ultra-large data centers in Memphis, Tennessee. SpaceX's public filing documents show that Musk claimed that the company's data center construction speed is faster and cheaper than that of its peers; one of its core strategies is to deploy gas turbines to generate electricity on site in the park. However, this move triggered environmental lawsuits, and the company was accused of violating environmental regulations and circumventing them. In addition, the company also promotes space data center solutions to investors. In the short term, the rental computing power business is more profitable than selling large self-developed Grok models (this model competes with many similar products for the user market). SpaceX’s computing power cooperation with Anthropic, Google and AI startup Reflection AI is expected to bring tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue to the company.