SpaceX Arizona data center and Texas campus add up to $74 billion of AI spending, Reuters reports

SpaceX plans to invest more than $74 billion in two AI supercomputing campuses, according to a Reuters report dated 12 November. The planned SpaceX Arizona data center in Cochise County would cost about $50 billion, and a second campus at the Starbase site in Texas would take more than $24 billion. The plan puts Elon Musk‘s SpaceX deeper into AI computing, and both sites still need local approvals.

What happened

Reuters said the two campuses are part of SpaceX’s expanding AI computing plans alongside its rocket and satellite businesses. It also reported that SpaceX went public in June 2026 and that its AI segment generated more than half of the company’s revenue in the third quarter.

The Arizona site is about 80 miles east of Tucson, Teslarati reported. The project became public on 4 November at a town hall at Cochise Elementary School, and the application was filed under the name Tombstone Resources LLC. Baxtel reported that SpaceX confirmed it is behind the proposal and that hundreds of residents attended the meeting, many with protest signs.

Securities.io reported that the Arizona campus would draw up to 6 gigawatts of power with up to 24 gigawatt-hours of battery storage, spread across nine single-story buildings of about 493,000 square feet each. Reuters said the Texas campus would generate its own electricity rather than draw from the public grid, and that a city notice shows plans for a gas-fired power plant and supercomputing facility on about 444 acres.

Key numbers

• More than $74 billion: total planned investment across the two campuses, according to Reuters. 1
• About $50 billion for Arizona and more than $24 billion for the Starbase campus in Texas, per the same Reuters report.
• 6 gigawatts: the full build size of the Arizona campus, with 24 gigawatt-hours of battery storage, Securities.io said. 2
• $3.6 billion: grid upgrades that SpaceX would transfer to Arizona Electric Power Cooperative at no cost, per Securities.io.
• 5,500 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs in Arizona, as SpaceX describes it in the Reuters report.

How SpaceX became an AI infrastructure builder

SpaceX began as a space company, and it now spends heavily on artificial intelligence compute as well. Baxtel described the Cochise proposal as the first SpaceX campus outside Memphis and Texas, and said Musk told SpaceX’s August earnings call he expects roughly 15 gigawatts of power plant capacity by the end of 2027, a figure that assumes about a quarter of projects slip.

The race for compute is also visible elsewhere on the site. Founders in Frame covered how Nscale’s IPO filing showed a $1.7 billion nine-month loss as revenue jumped, and how Tesla extended Cybertruck production after Musk reversed course on a shutdown.

What people said

At the 4 November meeting, SpaceX energy and supercomputer development lead Riley Trettel said: “SpaceX is the owner, and with approval, will be the builder and the owner of the project long term,” Baxtel reported. He also said: “We are paying for everything, every single cent.”

Opposition is organised. Reuters reported that a petition with 2,400 signatures asks officials to deny the permit. Teslarati reported that the site sits near the Willcox Playa, a landing area for federally protected sandhill cranes, and that SpaceX says its design accounts for them. Baxtel reported that Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative peaks at about 250 megawatts in summer and says the developer must fund every upgrade needed for 6 gigawatts. SpaceX says the project could cut electricity bills for cooperative members by up to 20%, according to Reuters.

What happens next

Securities.io noted that the figures describe planned investment rather than completed spending. Written public comments on the Arizona proposal are due on 27 November, and the Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on 9 December in Bisbee, Teslarati reported. Construction in Arizona could begin in March 2027 if the county approves. In Texas, Reuters said the Starbase City Commission will consider a property tax abatement on 9 December. The outcome of those votes will decide how much of the $74 billion SpaceX Arizona data center and Starbase plan moves ahead.