马斯克表示，SpaceX 已完成一笔 400 亿美元的债务融资交易，用于购买推动其人工智能雄心所需的芯片。
Musk said SpaceX has closed a $40 billion debt deal to pay for the chips it needs to fuel its artificial intelligence ambitions.
马斯克在 X 平台发帖讨论这笔表外交易时写道，得益于其投资级评级以及星链卫星业务和火箭发射带来的收入，SpaceX 已敲定这笔债务融资，用于采购英伟达公司的图形处理单元（GPU）。马斯克在提及 SpaceX 多元化的业务时，试图将该公司与所谓的“新云”公司区分开来，后者向科技公司出售高端算力。过去两周，这类公司因其大量借贷和需求前景而受到密切关注。
SpaceX finalized the debt raise to pay for Nvidia Corp.’s graphics processing units, or GPUs, thanks to its investment-grade ratings and revenue from its Starlink satellite business and rocket launches, Musk wrote in a post on X, discussing the off-balance-sheet deal. In noting SpaceX’s diversified business, Musk sought to differentiate the company from so-called neoclouds that sell high-end computing power to technology companies. Such firms have come under intense scrutiny in the past two weeks over their heavy borrowing and demand prospects.
马斯克在帖子中表示：“截至过去几周，债务市场几乎已完全切断了对任何没有独立于 AI 数据中心的实质性收入的公司的资金供给。200 多家‘新云’公司将面临‘孔雀鱼级’的死亡和整合。部分公司能熬过去，但不会太多。” 他随后表示，SpaceX 不会收购任何“新云”公司，称这“毫无意义”。从马斯克周日的帖子来看，目前尚不清楚他所说的交易“已完成”具体意味着什么，也不清楚投资者是否已就债务定价达成一致。
“As of the past few weeks, debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers,” Musk said in his post. “The 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many.”He later said that SpaceX won’t buy any neoclouds, calling it “pointless.”It wasn’t immediately clear from Musk’s post on Sunday what he meant by the deal being “closed” or whether investors had agreed to pricing for the debt.
彭博社周五报道称，SpaceX 也未能完全幸免于对 AI 基础设施繁荣日益增长的担忧。知情人士透露，由高盛集团牵头的银行团一直在与由阿波罗全球管理公司牵头的投资者讨论这笔 400 亿美元芯片融资的表外架构最终定价，而该架构的讨论陷入了近期“新云”市场动荡的漩涡中。知情人士称，阿波罗旗下的 Atlas SP 计划管理该实体，太平洋投资管理公司也曾考虑投资。这些人士因讨论私密信息而要求不具名。知情人士称，该债务预计将以称为 144A 的私募形式发行。
SpaceX hasn’t been completely immune to growing concerns over the AI infrastructure boom. Discussions over the final pricing for its off-balance-sheet structure for $40 billion in chip financing were caught in the middle of the recent neocloud market turmoil, Bloomberg reported Friday. Bankers led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had been discussing the structure with investors led by Apollo Global Management Inc., with Apollo-backed Atlas SP slated to manage the entity, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Pacific Investment Management Co. had also considered investing, according to the people. The debt was expected to be issued in the form of private placements called 144a, the people said.
在最新架构下，SpaceX 将避免重蹈马斯克旗下 AI 初创公司 xAI 去年融资尝试的覆辙。在那笔交易中，一个实体试图通过与 Valor Equity Partners 签订售后回租协议，筹集高达 200 亿美元的表外债务。但根据 SpaceX 最新财报，该安排最终被认定为“失败的售后回租安排”，SpaceX 不得不将其中约 130 亿美元债务计入资产负债表。
With the latest structure, SpaceX would avoid a repeat of a financing attempt last year by Musk’s AI startup, xAI. In that deal, an entity sought as much as $20 billion of off-balance sheet debt through a sale-leaseback agreement with Valor Equity Partners. But SpaceX ultimately had to record about $13 billion of that debt after it was declared a “failed sale-leaseback arrangement,” according to SpaceX’s latest earnings report.
此次债务融资是在强劲的第三季度财报之后进行的，SpaceX 的 AI 部门首次实现盈利。该企业越来越多地通过向外部 AI 实验室和超大规模数据中心运营商出售其孟菲斯数据中心的算力来驱动收入增长。
The debt raise comes after strong third quarter earnings, with SpaceX’s AI unit turning a profit for the first time. The enterprise is increasingly driving revenue by selling computing power from its Memphis data centers to external AI labs and hyperscalers.
在 SpaceX 的财报电话会上，首席财务官 Bret Johnsen 表示，公司正在与贷款人就进一步借款进行磋商。
During SpaceX’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen indicated that the company was in discussions with lenders over further borrowing.
“我们非常有信心能够以非常审慎的方式完成这件事，并在整个过程中继续保持我们的投资级评级，”他指着公司的投资级信用评级说道。
“We have a lot of conviction that we are going to be able to do this in a very measured fashion and continue to keep ourselves in that IG status along the way,” he said, pointing at the firm’s investment-grade rating.