SpaceX, eyeing IPO next week, signs $30B cloud deal with Google at $920M a month

Move seen as strategy to boost data center asset value ahead of listing

A file photo related to SpaceX. [UPI/Yonhap]

SpaceX, set to go public next week, has drawn investor attention after signing a data center lease agreement with Google.

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, SpaceX agreed to give Google access to computing resources — comprising 110,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs) and memory chips — through a cloud service contract.

Under the deal, Google will pay $920 million per month — roughly 1.4 trillion won — from October through June 2029, bringing the total contract value to approximately $30 billion (about 47 trillion won).

A reduced rate will apply through September while SpaceX scales up its infrastructure. Earlier in May, SpaceX agreed to lease Anthropic more than 220,000 GPUs worth of computing capacity at its "Colossus 1" data center in Memphis, Tennessee.

Industry observers interpret SpaceX's string of large-scale data center leases ahead of its listing as a strategy to highlight the asset value of its data center holdings and strengthen its investment appeal.

Particularly notable is that Google, unlike Anthropic, is one of the world's three largest cloud providers and a "hyperscaler" that operates massive data centers. The deal positions SpaceX in the market as a company capable of supplying data center capacity even to hyperscalers.

Some analysts view the arrangements as a win-win: Google and Anthropic shore up AI infrastructure as competition in AI model services intensifies. Google is also a major SpaceX shareholder, having invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the company in 2015.

Through the deal, Google stands to gain not only large-scale infrastructure access but also a potential rise in the value of its existing stake in SpaceX.

However, SpaceX's data center leases are not structured as long-term fixed contracts — both parties retain the right to terminate early. SpaceX specified that starting in 2027, either side may cancel the agreement at any time with 90 days' notice.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had previously noted on X, formerly Twitter, that the Anthropic deal contains a similar clause allowing cancellation with 90 days' notice after an initial 180-day lease period.

Musk emphasized at the time that SpaceX, not Anthropic, insisted on the termination clause, saying, "If computing resources become extremely scarce in the future, we may need to take them back and use them ourselves."

hope@heraldcorp.com