TL;DR
SpaceX announced plans on November 12 for AI supercomputing projects in Texas and Arizona with more than $74 billion in planned investment. Key details, including Texas facility capacity and water use and Arizona’s power arrangement, remain unresolved as local reviews approach.
SpaceX said November 12 it is advancing plans for two AI supercomputing projects in Texas and Arizona, describing them as more than $74 billion in planned investment. The projects would bring large computing facilities and major power infrastructure to Starbase, near Brownsville, and rural Cochise County, but both still face local review.
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In Starbase, Texas, SpaceX says it plans to invest more than $24 billion in computing infrastructure on an approximately 444-acre site between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville. A city notice describes the initial capital investment as approximately $24 billion and identifies a gas-fired power plant alongside the planned supercomputing facility. SpaceX says the site will generate its own electricity rather than draw from the public grid; the city notice does not state the plant’s capacity.
SpaceX says the Texas project is intended to train advanced AI systems for work it lists as medical research, emergency response, manufacturing and national security. The company reports more than 3,000 construction jobs so far and says the operating facility is expected to have more than 500 permanent jobs. Those employment figures are company statements. SpaceX also says it has committed $220 million to water and wastewater infrastructure in Brownsville and Cameron County, including $40 million it says it has already provided. It has not disclosed how much water the computing facility itself would use.
In Arizona, SpaceX describes a roughly $50 billion campus planned for about 747 acres along U.S. Highway 191 near Cochise. The county application, filed by Tombstone Resources L.L.C., proposes up to nine single-story computing buildings of about 493,000 square feet each, built in four phases. The application lists a first phase of about 1,500 megawatts and a full build-out of approximately 6 gigawatts, plus a 24-gigawatt-hour battery system. SpaceX’s project page and Tombstone Resources’ town hall statement connect the company to the proposal; the county application itself does not name SpaceX.
AI Plans Put Local Power in Focus
The plans show the scale of computing infrastructure SpaceX says it wants to build as it expands its AI work. The Arizona campus would require up to 6 gigawatts of grid power at full build-out, while the Texas project is planned with its own electricity generation. These different approaches put local electricity supply, utility arrangements and land use at the center of the projects’ effects on host communities.
The proposals also carry economic and public-service claims that local officials and residents will weigh alongside infrastructure demands. SpaceX points to jobs and water-system investment in Texas, and says Arizona’s project would use dry cooling and avoid industrial groundwater use. Those commitments matter to nearby communities, but the project materials provided do not settle every question about resource use or the terms of the power arrangement.
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From Orbital Computing to Ground Sites
SpaceX announced on February 2 that it had acquired xAI. At the time, the company argued that terrestrial electricity demand for AI could not be met in the near term without hardship to communities and the environment, and presented data centers in orbit as part of its answer. The new Texas and Arizona proposals are large ground-based projects. SpaceX says the Texas facility would also help develop and test technology for future space-based computing.
SpaceX’s November announcement sets out its investment plans, while the project details come from a mix of company materials and local records. The Texas city notice describes the site and its proposed gas-fired power plant. In Arizona, the county filing is under Tombstone Resources L.L.C.; that company’s town hall statement and SpaceX’s own project page provide the connection to SpaceX. Reuters has reported that SpaceX’s AI segment generated more than half of the company’s revenue in the third quarter, placing the campus plans within a business where AI has become a major source of income.
“Together, they represent more than $74 billion in planned American investment.”
— SpaceX
Capacity, Water and Power Terms
Several project details remain open. For Texas, the available city notice does not give the planned power plant’s capacity, and SpaceX has not stated the computing facility’s water use or the size of a proposed property tax abatement. A local outlet, The 956 Report, says an air registration filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality describes a temporary setup of 35 natural gas turbines totaling about 748 megawatts, later to be replaced by eight turbines totaling about 708 megawatts. Those figures come from the outlet’s account of the filing, not the city notice.
For Arizona, SpaceX says the campus would be dry-cooled and would not use industrial groundwater. The application estimates water needs, but the source material available here cuts off before giving the amount. The utility arrangement behind the company’s promised local bill reductions also remains subject to review; it is not clear whether Arizona’s utility regulator will approve it. The proposals’ timelines, final designs and build-out schedules are not established by the material available.
County and City Reviews on Dec. 9
Both projects face local proceedings scheduled for December 9, 2026. The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission is set to hold a hearing on the Arizona application. In Starbase, the City Commission is due to consider a property tax abatement related to the Texas project. The outcomes of those proceedings, and any further regulatory decisions on power and construction, will shape what the companies can build and when.
Key Questions
How much does SpaceX say it plans to invest?
SpaceX says the Texas project represents more than $24 billion and the Arizona campus roughly $50 billion, for more than $74 billion combined in planned investment.
Where are the proposed AI campuses?
The Texas facility is planned for an approximately 444-acre site in Starbase near the Port of Brownsville. The Arizona proposal covers about 747 acres near Cochise along U.S. Highway 191.
How would the Arizona campus get electricity?
The application proposes grid power delivered through Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative and Arizona Electric Power Cooperative to a utility-owned substation on the site. It also lists natural gas generators for outages and testing.
When will local officials review the projects?
The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission and the Starbase City Commission both have proceedings scheduled for December 9, 2026. Arizona’s commission is set to hold a hearing; Starbase’s commission is set to consider a property tax abatement.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
