The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend billions of dollars to purchase AI computing power from SpaceX. According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Defense is in in-depth negotiations with the U.S. Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) and plans to purchase data center computing resources worth billions of dollars from the latter to run the U.S. military’s artificial intelligence (AI) model.

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend billions of dollars to purchase AI computing power from SpaceX. According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Defense is in in-depth negotiations with the U.S. Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) and plans to purchase data center computing resources worth billions of dollars from the latter to run the U.S. military’s artificial intelligence (AI) model. This move means that the cooperation between Elon Musk’s space technology company and the US military is further extending into core technology areas. The two sides are currently negotiating a computing power supply agreement worth billions of dollars. Although relevant negotiations are still ongoing and may break down, the U.S. military’s urgent need for computing power has promoted this cooperation process. In recent years, core agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Security Agency have accelerated their efforts to seize cloud computing and computing resources. To this end, the U.S. military specifically proposed a new initiative called the "Artificial Intelligence Arsenal" in its fiscal year 2027 budget application, planning to apply for $30 billion in funding from Congress to purchase high-end AI chips. Market analysis pointed out that as Space Exploration Technology completed the acquisition of Musk's artificial intelligence start-up xAI earlier this year and achieved a public listing, the company has officially incorporated the Grok AI model and large-scale data center assets into its core business. The company has previously quickly built a very large-scale data center in Memphis, Tennessee, and has significantly reduced computing power costs by installing gas turbines to generate electricity on site. In recent months, it has successfully provided computing power leasing services to technology giants such as Anthropic, Google, and start-up Reflection AI. The U.S. military is seeking to establish a diversified computing power supply chain this time to reduce its dependence on a single technology giant. Previously, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Oracle have been the main cloud service providers of the US Department of Defense. Amazon is planning to invest US$50 billion to expand cloud computing capabilities for government agencies and the Department of Defense. Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense has approved multiple companies, including SpaceX, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, to use their AI models and related technologies in classified environments. However, the increasingly deepening interest ties between SpaceX and the U.S. Department of Defense have triggered widespread questions within the United States about national security and conflicts of interest. Some U.S. national security officials have expressed concerns about the Pentagon's overreliance on Musk's private companies in key areas such as rocket launches, communications satellite management and missile tracking. In addition, given that Musk provided huge financial support to the Trump team during the general election, this huge military procurement negotiation has once again triggered public accusations of benefit transfer.