Google to pay SpaceX $920 million monthly for AI cloud computing

SpaceX is set to receive $920 million per month from Google for cloud computing services, a deal that significantly bolsters the rocket company's finances ahead of its upcoming initial public offering.

The agreement, disclosed in SpaceX's IPO filing, centers on providing Google access to a substantial cluster of AI chips, specifically around 110,000 Nvidia GPUs. These are essential for powering Google's Gemini AI models. Google will begin paying the full monthly rate in October 2026, with a reduced fee during an initial ramp-up period. The contract extends through June 2029, potentially totaling around $30 billion in payments.

This substantial deal is comparable to another agreement SpaceX has with AI firm Anthropic, where it leases compute capacity for $1.25 billion per month. The facilities involved were originally intended to support Elon Musk's AI venture, xAI, which reported a significant operating loss of $6.4 billion on $3.2 billion in revenue last year. A Google Cloud spokesperson described the agreement as a "short-term, timely agreement to ensure we have bridge capacity to meet surging customer demand for our agent platform, Gemini Enterprise."

The agreements with Google and Anthropic come at a critical time, just days before SpaceX's IPO, which is anticipated to be the largest in history, valuing the company at $1.8 trillion. This valuation hinges on Musk's ambitious goals, including expanding Starlink, deploying data centers in space, and pursuing Mars colonization.

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This is a short-term, timely agreement to ensure we have bridge capacity to meet surging customer demand for our agent platform, Gemini Enterprise, which has been even higher than we expected.