The purchases deepen related-party ties across Elon Musk’s companies as SpaceXAI installs Tesla battery systems at its Greater Memphis data centers while facing backlash over gas turbines used to power the sites.
SpaceX bought $295 million of Tesla Megapack battery storage systems in the second quarter and $329 million in the first half of 2026, financial filings showed, extending a long pattern of related-party transactions across Elon Musk’s companies. The systems are being installed at SpaceXAI’s Colossus data centers in Greater Memphis, where they are intended to help power AI facilities with large electricity needs. Megapacks are utility-scale battery storage systems that can store power from multiple sources and help reduce outage risks. The disclosure adds operational detail to SpaceX’s AI buildout. At the Colossus and Colossus 2 sites, the company has also installed and used dozens of natural gas-burning turbines, drawing complaints from local residents over smell, noise, health problems and air pollution. The NAACP has sued SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, in federal court in Mississippi seeking to halt continued turbine use without pollution controls or federal permits. Musk said on SpaceX’s second-quarter earnings call that the company plans to rapidly expand its AI infrastructure and power plants. "Our tentative target is to actually have 20 gigawatts of power and cooling live online by the end of next year," he said, adding that even if some projects slip, he would still expect "something close to 15 gigawatts" at the power-plant level. SpaceX had previously bought $506 million of Megapacks from Tesla in 2025 and another $131 million of Tesla Cybertrucks, but disclosed no further Cybertruck purchases in the first half of 2026.