Elon Musk Abandons Solar Power for Gas Turbines Fueling His Artificial Intelligence

In 2017, Elon Musk firmly stated before the National Governors Association that a small patch of desert in Nevada would be enough to cover the entire electricity needs of the United States. The historic goal of Tesla, established from the first Master Plan in 2006, was to accelerate the global transition to an electric and solar economy, eliminating dependence on fossil fuels.

However, the recent industrial strategies of the mogul show a marked change in direction, driven by the frantic race towards artificial intelligence. By 2026, the subsidiary xAI operates with 62 unauthorized methane gas turbines between Tennessee and Mississippi. These plants are used to power the supercomputer Colossus, dedicated to training the virtual assistant Grok.

According to environmental permit data, these facilities could emit over 6 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. Adding to the controversy is the commercial performance of the software: Grok has recorded a 60% drop in downloads, slipping to fifth place in global rankings.

Elon Musk Changes Strategy: More Details on the Backtrack

In light of largely unused computing capacity, Musk signed a $1.25 billion-a-month deal to rent servers from Anthropic, a company he had publicly labeled hostile to Western civilization just a few months prior. This financial move, estimated to be worth $40 billion by 2029, appears closely tied to the documentation for the upcoming IPO of SpaceX, which aims for a record valuation between $1.75 and $2 trillion.

Within the prospectus for the IPO, Musk's new energy 'route' has emerged: space solar. SpaceX intends to launch a constellation of one million satellites to create orbital data centers, arguing that continuous illumination ensures five times greater efficiency. This new vision shifts the axis of economic interest from terrestrial panels to the launches of the Starship vehicle, transforming the needs for equity financing into a new technological urgency.