--- title: "SpaceX AI Buildout Shows Cracks as Musk Shakes Up Data Center Team" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/297820574.md" description: "SpaceX reshuffled its data-center leadership due to reliability issues and engineering concerns at facilities in Tennessee and Mississippi, ahead of a September 30 deadline for Google’s $920 million monthly compute deal. The shake-up follows reports of outages caused by temporary power and cooling systems, with uptime falling below targets. SpaceX has flagged risks including construction delays and equipment shortages in recent filings. Despite these challenges, the company continues to expand its AI infrastructure capacity." datetime: "2026-09-02T18:48:38.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/297820574.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297820574.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/297820574.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # SpaceX AI Buildout Shows Cracks as Musk Shakes Up Data Center Team **Space Exploration Technologies Corp.** (NASDAQ:SPCX) has reshuffled its data-center leadership after engineering concerns and reliability problems emerged at facilities in Tennessee and Mississippi, The Information reported Tuesday. The shake-up comes as **Elon Musk** races to expand SpaceX’s AI infrastructure business ahead of a Sep. 30 capacity deadline tied to Google’s $920 million-a-month compute deal. **Jake Palmer**, who led physical infrastructure for SpaceXAI, left in late July alongside several other data-center executives, according to the report. SpaceX veterans from its rocket and Starlink businesses have since taken larger roles in the operation. ### Musk’s Speed Advantage Faces a Reliability Test Some facilities operated for months without backup cooling and power systems, The Information reported. The publication separately reported in May that SpaceXAI’s Macrohard facility relied on more than 100 mobile chillers and had recorded uptime well below an internal target of 99.9%. Temporary power and cooling systems contributed to outages that interrupted AI model training, according to the report. Execution pressure has also surfaced elsewhere. Mississippi regulators allowed temporary gas turbines to operate longer than planned after supply-chain problems delayed 41 permanent units. ### SpaceX Had Already Flagged the Risks Weeks before the latest shake-up, SpaceX added a specific AI infrastructure risk factor to its Aug. 4 quarterly filing. The company said its cloud business depends on “reliable data center operations and timely development,” identifying construction delays, workforce turnover, power constraints and equipment shortages as risks that could delay capacity or disrupt service. SpaceX had 1.4 gigawatts of compute capacity at the end of June, up from 0.4 GW a year earlier, and spent about $15.8 billion on AI infrastructure during the second quarter. ### Google’s $920 Million-a-Month Deadline **Alphabet Inc.** (NASDAQ:GOOGL) unit Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month at full capacity for access to roughly 110,000 **Nvidia Corp.** (NASDAQ:NVDA) GPUs. SpaceX must deliver the committed GPUs by Sep. 30. After a one-month grace period, Google can terminate the agreement or accept fewer GPUs and reduce payments proportionately if SpaceX falls short. Anthropic has overtaken SpaceX as prediction market traders’ favorite to have the largest IPO of 2026. SpaceX led through much of the summer, but Anthropic surged ahead in August as expectations grew that it could list at a valuation approaching $2 trillion. Traders now put Anthropic at 59% versus SpaceX at 40%, with about $5.8 million traded. There is no indication the problems will affect Google’s deal. But they test Musk’s claim that SpaceX can bring compute online “better than anyone else so far.” *Image: Shutterstock* **Read Also: OpenAI’s $300B Deal Could Make Oracle the Weak Link in the AI Boom** ### Related Stocks - [SPCX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCX.US.md) - [GOOG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOG.US.md) - [GOOGL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOGL.US.md) - [GGLS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GGLS.US.md) - [GGLL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GGLL.US.md) - [SPCH.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCH.US.md) - [SPCF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCF.US.md) - [SPAL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPAL.US.md) - [SNK.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SNK.US.md) - [SSPC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SSPC.US.md) - [SPCU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCU.US.md) - [LOFF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/LOFF.US.md) - [GOOW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOW.US.md) - [GOOY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOY.US.md) - [GOU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOU.US.md) - [GOOX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOX.US.md) - [GOOP.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOP.US.md) - [MAGX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MAGX.US.md) - [NVDA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDA.US.md) - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) - [ORCL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ORCL.US.md) - [NVD.DE](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVD.DE.md) - [ORCL-D.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ORCL-D.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [OpenAI Cuts Access for SpaceX-Owned Cursor After Takeover, Musk Dismisses Concerns](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297409372.md) - [Elon Musk Says Google and Anthropic Turned to SpaceX For AI Compute Because Power is Tight, Says SPCX Built its Own Plants to Move Faster](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297761388.md) - [OpenAI Cuts Off SpaceX-Owned Cursor, Musk Fires Back 'I Couldn't Care Less'](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297508785.md) - [SpaceX Was ‘Nowhere’ in AI 6 Months Ago — Now It’s an Anthropic Rival After the $60 Billion Cursor Deal, Says Oppenheimer](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297900623.md) - [Starlink’s Memphis Discounts add over 2,000 New Customers](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298061566.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**