SpaceX locks in $40bn of GPU financing from Apollo as Nebius and AirTrunk raise billions in debt
SpaceX disclosed a binding $40bn GPU financing with Apollo and Elon Musk warned of a neocloud shake-out, while Nebius took a $3.5bn facility from Citi and AirTrunk signed an A$4.25bn green loan for its SYD3 campus in Sydney.
The week in 30 seconds
- North America: SpaceX disclosed a binding commitment for about $40bn of financing for AI chips and related equipment, arranged with Apollo, the week's biggest money story, as Musk warned that most of the 200 plus neoclouds will not survive.
- Asia Pacific: AirTrunk signed an A$4.25bn green loan with 32 lenders for its SYD3 campus in Western Sydney, and Malaysia's prime minister said SoftBank's Masayoshi Son had chosen Malaysia for US$50bn of technology investment.
- Middle East & GCC: Nebius signed a preliminary deal for up to 50MW at HUMAIN and DataVolt's Oxagon campus in NEOM, a day before taking a $3.5bn secured facility from Citi.
The headline story
On 26 October SpaceX disclosed in a regulatory filing a binding commitment for roughly $40bn of financing for AI chips and related data centre equipment, which it called the largest committed GPU financing (TechCrunch). An entity managed by Apollo will buy the chips and servers and lease them to SpaceX for about five years, with leases starting in the first half of 2027 as each tranche is delivered. SpaceX expects the deal to close by the end of the year. Bloomberg reported that some talks were still under way even as Musk described the deal as done.
Musk used the moment to warn the rest of the market. In a post on X he said debt markets had almost entirely shut off access to money for companies without substantial revenue beyond AI data centres, and predicted that the 200 plus neoclouds would consolidate into a few survivors (CoinDesk).
The same week showed that credit is still open to some neoclouds, on short terms. Nebius took a $3.5bn senior secured facility from Citi with a 364-day maturity, priced from SOFR plus 2.75% (Nebius). GPU fleets are now being financed like aircraft, through leases and secured lines, and the price of capital is sorting the market.
Talent signal: asset finance, structured credit and treasury leaders who can run GPU lease and secured debt programmes, in New York, London and Amsterdam, and CFOs at neoclouds who can refinance short facilities before they fall due.
AI infrastructure watch
The GPU and AI factory moves of the week, and the leadership they need. More on our AI infrastructure page.
Nebius takes a $3.5bn secured facility from Citi
The facility will fund data centre development, GPU procurement and general corporate purposes, with Citi as mandated lead arranger (Nebius).
Talent signal: debt capital markets and investor relations leaders at Nebius and its peers, as one-year money must be rolled or replaced.
Firebird wins a US export licence for 45,000 Nvidia GPUs in Kazakhstan
The licence covers Grace Blackwell GPUs for Firebird's AI factory with Kazakhtelecom, where phase one is estimated at US$5bn and up to 109MW, with a commercial launch targeted for the third quarter of 2027 (W.Media).
Talent signal: export compliance and sovereign AI programme leaders in Central Asia.
SWI Group launches SWI Compute with about $1bn of Nvidia orders
The Euronext-listed group's new unit plans a 30MW UK AI factory with close to 7,000 Rubin GPUs by the end of 2027, the first phase of a campus planned to reach 530MW (W.Media).
Talent signal: AI factory delivery and GPU cloud operations leaders in the UK.
Neysa to deploy up to 9,000 GPUs at STT GDC's Noida 2
The Indian AI cloud's first phase is due to go live from the first quarter of 2027 near New Delhi (W.Media).
Talent signal: high-density colocation and GPU operations leaders in the Delhi region.
North America
Microsoft files for a 422MW campus in Rome, Georgia
The three-building campus covers 349 acres, with Georgia Power supplying 422MW and completion expected by 2032 (Baxtel).
Talent signal: construction programme and utility interface leaders for Microsoft's growing Georgia footprint.
TerraWatt proposes up to 1GW at the former Alton Steel mill
The Riverbend Technology Center in Illinois would be built in 200MW blocks on a 381-acre site, with Ameren Illinois supplying power; no tenant has been named and rezoning is still needed (Baxtel).
Talent signal: brownfield development and community engagement leaders in the Midwest.
Google adds 1,070MW of flexible capacity from Voltus in PJM
The virtual power plant deal takes Google's commitment with Voltus above 1GW, with the contract running to 2040 (Baxtel).
Talent signal: demand response and energy market leaders, as hyperscalers buy grid flexibility as well as power.
SpaceXAI discloses $6.1m permit exposure in Mississippi
A quarterly filing said state regulators found construction began at three Southaven sites before stormwater permits were in place, with preliminary exposure of about $6.1m (Baxtel).
Talent signal: environmental permitting and compliance leaders for fast-track AI campuses.
Europe
Era4 reveals a 1GW AI campus in Newport
The plan for the former steelworks in South Wales targets the equivalent of up to 400,000 Nvidia GPUs at full build, with a first phase online in 2027 (Baxtel).
Talent signal: UK AI Growth Zone delivery, planning and power leaders in South Wales.
Crusoe takes a second 40MW building at Polar's Norwegian campus
The hydro-powered, liquid-cooled DRA02 building at Tørdal is expected live in late 2027 and will host Nvidia Vera Rubin systems (Crusoe).
Talent signal: Nordic site leadership and liquid cooling operations.
Omnes Capital backs Heim Datacenter
Omnes Capital's CEP2 fund is backing the Nordic developer's plan to build, own and operate large data centres for hyperscale and AI customers; terms were not disclosed (IREI).
Talent signal: founding teams for new Nordic platforms: development, commercial and finance leads.
Switzerland tenders up to CHF 7bn for a sovereign government cloud
The federal tender has three lots of seven years, two public cloud and one private on-premises, with awards expected in late summer 2027 (W.Media).
Talent signal: public sector bid leaders and sovereign cloud architects in Bern and Zurich.
Middle East & GCC
Nebius signs for up to 50MW at Oxagon
HUMAIN and DataVolt signed a preliminary framework with Nebius as anchor customer for up to half of the first 100MW now under construction at NEOM, part of a 360MW first phase, with capacity from the fourth quarter of 2027 (NEOM).
Talent signal: Saudi site delivery and customer onboarding leaders on the Red Sea coast.
Oman and Yamna agree a £1bn plus AI data centre in Salalah
The UK-founded developer signed a memorandum of understanding with Oman's transport and communications ministry during the Sultan's state visit to Britain; the first phase is expected to cost more than £1bn (Gulf News).
Talent signal: energy and data centre development leaders in Dhofar.
G42 signs pacts for an AI factory in Greece
Khazna and Core42 will explore an AI factory with Greece's Copelouzos Group, among 18 UAE and Greece agreements worth €12.75bn (The National).
Talent signal: cross-border development leaders as Gulf operators build in southern Europe.
Gulf investors stay the course after strikes on data centres
Enterprise reported that Gulf champions and Western firms are continuing AI infrastructure projects despite earlier drone strikes on facilities in the UAE and Bahrain, while analysts said further attacks could change the calculus (Enterprise).
Talent signal: resilience, physical security and business continuity leaders for Gulf campuses.
Asia Pacific
AirTrunk signs an A$4.25bn green loan for SYD3
The loan from 32 lenders, underwritten by 14 banks, funds the Western Sydney campus, due for completion by mid-2028 (AirTrunk).
Talent signal: project delivery and sustainable finance leaders in Sydney.
SoftBank's Son reportedly picks Malaysia for US$50bn
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Son had chosen Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia for investment spanning AI, new technology and data centres; SoftBank did not comment (The Star, via Bloomberg).
Talent signal: country leadership and power development in Kuching, if the plan firms up.
SK Hyper seeks partners for a US$350bn first phase
The SK Group unit plans 15GW in South Korea by 2035, and its CEO told Bloomberg Television the first 5GW phase alone needs US$350bn including equipment (The Edge Malaysia).
Talent signal: infrastructure fundraising and hyperscale partnership leaders in Seoul.
KT Cloud breaks ground on a 50MW AI data centre in Ansan
The liquid-cooled facility, built by CJ Logistics, targets completion in 2029 as part of KT Cloud's plan for 1GW of AI capacity by 2031 (Baxtel).
Talent signal: construction and commissioning leaders for Korean AI builds.
New money
Funding rounds, financings, IPOs, M&A and investment pledges announced this week.
| Who | What | Amount | Region | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK Hyper | Funding sought for first 5GW phase (target, not raised) | US$350bn | Asia Pacific | The Edge Malaysia |
| SoftBank | Malaysia technology investment (stated by PM, unconfirmed) | US$50bn | Asia Pacific | The Star, via Bloomberg |
| SpaceX | GPU lease financing led by Apollo | About $40bn | North America | TechCrunch |
| Firebird | Kazakhstan AI factory phase one (estimated investment) | US$5bn | AI infrastructure | W.Media |
| AirTrunk | Green loan for SYD3, Sydney | A$4.25bn | Asia Pacific | AirTrunk |
| Nebius | Senior secured facility from Citi | $3.5bn | Europe | Nebius |
| Yamna | Salalah AI data centre, first phase | Over £1bn | Middle East & GCC | Gulf News |
New capacity
| Project | Region | Size | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Era4, Newport, South Wales | Europe | 1GW | Baxtel |
| TerraWatt, Riverbend Technology Center, Alton, Illinois (proposed) | North America | Up to 1GW | Baxtel |
| Microsoft, Rome, Georgia (filing) | North America | 422MW | Baxtel |
| HUMAIN and DataVolt, Oxagon first phase, NEOM | Middle East & GCC | 360MW | NEOM |
| KT Cloud, Ansan | Asia Pacific | 50MW | Baxtel |
| Polar and Crusoe, DRA02, Tørdal, Norway | Europe | 40MW | Crusoe |
| SWI Compute, first UK AI factory | Europe | 30MW | W.Media |
The T4X view
The money is still flowing, but it is choosing its borrowers. SpaceX can lease $40bn of GPUs against Starlink revenue and AirTrunk can line up 32 lenders, while Nebius borrows for one year at a time and Musk tells the rest of the neocloud field to expect consolidation. Boards should treat the finance chair as a hire on the critical path, alongside the people who deliver power and buildings.