Sources say SpaceX plans to raise $40 billion to buy Nvidia AI chips消息称 SpaceX 计划募资 400 亿美元，用于采购英伟达 AI 芯片

According to the Financial Times, Elon Musk's SpaceX is planning to raise $40 billion (IT House note: the current exchange rate is about 268.579 billion yuan). The funding round will be led by Apollo Global Management and will be used to purchase Nvidia chips. The company, which is involved in both artificial intelligence and rocketry, is investing heavily in betting on the chipmaker's advanced technology. According to people familiar with the matter, the company plans to raise about $10 billion (the current exchange rate is about 67.145 billion yuan) through bank loans and issue another $30 billion (the current exchange rate is about 201.434 billion yuan) investment-grade bonds to fund this huge chip purchase order. Private capital group Apollo is expected to lead the deal and help sell the bonds to a wide investor base, people familiar with the matter said. Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) is also among the few lenders that are in talks to contribute. The transaction is expected to close in 2027. SpaceX's financing plan shows that the market is raising huge funds to invest in data centers, chips and other infrastructure that support the development of artificial intelligence. Insurance and pension funds can buy SpaceX bonds thanks to BBB's credit rating (the penultimate tier of investment grade). Such funds generally rarely allocate junk-grade bonds. Musk has said he wants to continue to use Nvidia's technology in depth on his artificial intelligence projects. The partnership between SpaceX and Nvidia will be further deepened if this funding comes to fruition. This is also a positive for Nvidia. More and more chipmakers are trying to challenge its dominance in high-end semiconductors. “We decided to build entirely on Nvidia because we thought the Vera Rubin architecture was the best. Speaking about Nvidia's cutting-edge AI platform on SpaceX's earnings call in August, Musk said,“ We believe it is the best performing AI computing system, and we value the close collaboration and partnership with Nvidia at multiple levels. SpaceX received an investment-grade credit rating shortly after completing its $86 billion initial public offering in June at a current exchange rate of about 577.444 billion yuan. In less than two weeks, the company issued $25 billion (current exchange rate of about 167.862 billion yuan) of high-grade bonds. However, in the days since then, the bonds have been sold off, and the market is worried that the debt of the company continues to rise, while the amount of capital expenditure is huge. According to MarketAxess, SpaceX's bonds due in 2056 are currently trading at about 85 cents par (about 5.7 yuan at current exchange rates), yields are about 2.27 percentage points higher than U.S. Treasuries, and yields are already close to junk bonds. In the past, Musk's limited financial disclosures have discouraged some investors from investing in SpaceX bonds. SpaceX has previously approached a number of investors to raise money for the multi-billion-dollar chip procurement project. Investors said they were given a short two-page project memo with a picture of outer space with only an arrow pointing to the company's intention to build a data center “somewhere in the universe.” “How do we go about submitting this material to the Internal Investment Committee (IC) for approval?" The internal investment committee referred to here is the internal body responsible for approving each transaction. The total size of Apollo's credit business reached $800 billion (the current exchange rate is about 5.37 trillion yuan), and lending to high-rated companies has become a major pillar of this business. The company has led several multi-billion-dollar financing deals, including with Intel and Bayer. Apollo's life and annuity subsidiary, Athene, typically subscribes to a significant portion of these bonds. In June this year, Apollo also led the completion of a $35 billion (current exchange rate of about 235.06 billion yuan) chip financing transaction, procurement