Elon Musk’s SpaceX Builds Foundry to Solve AI Power Bottleneck

Elon Musk has revealed a strategic move to bypass one of the AI industry's primary bottlenecks by manufacturing critical turbine components in-house. Musk confirmed that a previously secret SpaceX foundry in Bastrop, Texas, is dedicated to casting "blades and vanes" for natural gas turbines. This initiative aims to accelerate the deployment of gas-fired power plants by up to 18 months. Writing on X, Musk noted that while SpaceX and Tesla are scaling solar production to 100GW annually, natural gas remains a necessary supplement for the foreseeable future. He identified the casting of turbine parts as the primary limiting factor in production. By bringing this process in-house at SpaceX, the company aims to resolve supply chain delays that have hindered the expansion of power infrastructure. The move addresses a critical energy crisis facing the AI sector. With global data center electricity usage projected to double by 2030, major turbine manufacturers like GE Vernova are already sold out of capacity through the end of the decade. This shortage has forced "hyperscalers"—including Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft—to shift strategies toward building private gas-fired plants directly adjacent to their data centers to ensure consistent power supply.