SpaceX drops $329M on Tesla Megapacks for xAI data centers

SpaceX has become Tesla's biggest internal customer for grid-scale batteries, spending $329 million on Megapacks so far this year—including $295 million in the second quarter alone, per the company's latest earnings report. The purchases highlight the deepening financial entanglement across Elon Musk's companies. SpaceX, which absorbed xAI earlier this year, is likely deploying the Megapacks at xAI's AI data centers. Before the merger, xAI had already bought $430 million worth of Megapacks, but its first-quarter purchases were just $34 million—meaning the pace of battery acquisition accelerated dramatically after SpaceX took over.

Megapacks serve a critical function in AI data centers, which draw power in erratic bursts. GPUs training models or running inference spike demand unpredictably, and those peaks can trigger high utility charges or overwhelm on-site generators. Batteries discharge in under a second to smooth those peaks, lowering costs and keeping servers running. Despite xAI's heavy reliance on natural gas—including dozens of unpermitted turbines near its Mississippi Colossus project—battery storage remains essential for load leveling. SpaceX also reported $131 million worth of Tesla Cybertrucks purchased at MSRP as of December 2025, further underscoring how Musk's companies increasingly act as each other's customers.