{"slug": "elon-musk-says-spacex-will-build-its-own-gas-turbine-parts-to-meet-surging-ai", "title": "Elon Musk says SpaceX will build its own gas turbine parts to meet surging AI power demand", "summary": "SpaceX will build its own gas turbine blades and vanes to accelerate natural gas power generation for AI data centers, Elon Musk said on Saturday, citing that solar alone cannot meet surging electricity demand. The in-house casting could speed up turbine deployment by up to 18 months, as the company spent $16 billion on AI infrastructure in Q2 2026 and faces a global turbine shortage.", "body_md": "SpaceX is building a gas turbine blade factory as it grapples with a global scramble to [secure energy supplies](https://www.businessinsider.com/jensen-huang-data-centers-better-job-backlash-2026-8) for AI data centers.\n\nElon Musk said on Saturday that the rocket company will manufacture its own gas turbine parts, adding that solar power alone would not be enough to power its massive AI infrastructure buildout.\n\nIn a post on X, Musk wrote that SpaceX and Tesla were both racing to build their own [massive solar panel factories](https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-texas-solar-factory-elon-musk-100gw-manufacturing-plans-2026-8) \"as fast as possible\" — but added that this would not be enough to meet surging demand for electricity.\n\n\"Natural gas will still be needed to supplement and bootstrap solar for several years,\" Musk said, adding that SpaceX would seek to build its own gas turbine blades and vanes — which are notoriously difficult to manufacture — to speed up production.\n\n\"By doing in-house casting at SpaceX, we can accelerate natural gas turbines coming online by up to 18 months, which is a profound game-changer,\" the billionaire said.\n\nThe Information first reported on SpaceX's plans. SpaceX has also begun [advertising roles](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/spacex/jobs/8497668002) for a \"blades and vanes foundry\" in Bastrop, Texas, where the rocket company manufactures its Starlink terminals.\n\n\"Power generation poses one of the key challenges that could slow the worldwide adoption of AI,\" read one of the job descriptions.\n\nThe AI boom has led to a massive buildout of data centers across the US, which in turn has put electricity supplies under strain and sparked a nationwide public backlash.\n\nSome AI companies have attempted to address their data center's hunger for power by building natural gas power plants.\n\nOpenAI, Amazon, and Microsoft have all struck partnerships to power data centers with natural gas, while Meta's \"Hyperion\" data center in northern Louisiana will require [10 new gas power plants](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-29/meta-s-need-for-gas-power-boosts-entergy-spending-by-14-billion) to supply it with electricity.\n\nThe rush to secure natural gas generators has sparked a [global shortage](https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/26/07/60618792/ge-vernova-says-its-mostly-sold-out-through-2030) of gas turbines and pushed some aerospace startups to repurpose their jet engines [into turbines](https://boomsupersonic.com/flyby/ai-needs-more-power-than-the-grid-can-deliver-supersonic-tech-can-fix-that) to fuel AI data centers.\n\nSpaceX has used mobile gas turbines to power its Colossus data centers in Mississippi and Tennessee, where they have attracted local complaints over noise and pollution.\n\nLike many other tech giants, SpaceX is spending aggressively on building new data centers and securing AI compute as it seeks to build ever more powerful AI models.\n\nThe company spent [$16 billion on AI infrastructure](https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-capex-ai-space-data-centers-elon-musk-2026-8) in the second quarter of 2026, with executives telling investors to expect \"very similar\" levels of spending for the next two quarters.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-build-its-own-gas-turbine-parts-to-meet-surging-ai", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-build-gas-turbine-parts-meet-ai-demand-2026-8", "published_at": "2026-08-31 11:10:19+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-31 11:22:27.018342+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["SpaceX", "Elon Musk", "Tesla", "OpenAI", "Amazon", "Microsoft", "Meta"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-build-its-own-gas-turbine-parts-to-meet-surging-ai", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-build-its-own-gas-turbine-parts-to-meet-surging-ai.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-build-its-own-gas-turbine-parts-to-meet-surging-ai.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-build-its-own-gas-turbine-parts-to-meet-surging-ai.jsonld"}}