TL;DRxAI powers its data centres with unregulated gas turbines while SpaceX’s IPO pitches space-based solar. Tesla’s solar business is ignored.
The SpaceX IPO prospectus, filed on Wednesday, contains a vision for terawatt-scale space-based solar power. It also reveals, through what it does not say, that Elon Musk’s AI company xAI is running its data centres on unregulated natural gas turbines, with plans to buy $2.8 billion more. Tesla, the company Musk built on the promise of eliminating fossil fuels, barely features as a power supplier. The contradiction is now a matter of SEC record.
Tesla has released four Master Plans over the years. The through line has been consistent: electrification of the economy. In 2006, Musk described Tesla’s “overarching purpose” as helping “expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy.” Just three years ago, Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3 outlined a detailed path to eliminate fossil fuels entirely. The document was rigorous, optimistic, and specific about the role of terrestrial solar, battery storage, and electrified transport in decarbonising the global economy.
Then xAI arrived. The AI company, which merged with SpaceX in February at a combined $1.25 trillion valuation, has embraced the mine-and-burn economy that Tesla was founded to replace. Dozens of unregulated natural gas turbines power xAI’s data centres in Memphis, Tennessee. The $2.8 billion in additional gas turbine purchases disclosed in the filing is not a temporary measure with an expiration date. It is a capital commitment that cements fossil fuel infrastructure into xAI’s operations for years.
