SpaceX plans a $24 billion supercomputing facility and gas-fired power plant in Starbase, Texas. The project is about 17 times the value of the company's bitcoin holdings. SpaceX also seeks a property tax break, with a public hearing set for Dec. 9.
SpaceX, a bitcoin-holding company that went public in June in the largest IPO in history, wants to build and power its own supercomputer in Texas. The $24 billion project at Starbase would include a natural gas power plant and a data center.
The $24 billion project is about 17 times SpaceX's bitcoin holdings
The $24 billion price tag is roughly 17 times the value of SpaceX's bitcoin holdings. According to Bitcointreasuries.net, the company held 18,712 bitcoin, worth about $1.39 billion, as of this writing.
The plant would reportedly run on 35 turbines and produce 748 megawatts of power. Most AI data centers, by contrast, plug into the local power grid.
According to the Starbase City Notice, SpaceX proposes: "SpaceX proposes to construct, own, and operate a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility." The notice does not say why SpaceX wants its own natural gas plant.
A tax break request and a political headwind
The City of Starbase is also being asked to grant SpaceX a tax break, and the city commission is slated to hold a public hearing on Dec. 9. The requested property tax abatement would cut SpaceX's property taxes and let the company use the Cameron County Enterprise Zone for the project.
Still, the road may not be smooth for Elon Musk. Democrat Gina Hinojosa won Texas' governor's race on Nov. 3, ousting Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, after campaigning against AI data centers.
Abbott had already ordered a pause on Aug. 3, so no more data centers can move through the state grid operator's connection process until regulators finish an audit. It remains to be seen whether SpaceX's own plant will let it sidestep that hurdle.
Source: CoinDesk
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