SpaceX Reports $4.4 Billion Profit as AI Unit Outperforms

SpaceX reported third-quarter net income of $4.4 billion, a turnaround from a $1 billion loss in the same period last year, according to a regulatory filing cited by TechCrunch. The company said artificial intelligence now makes up 52% of its income, a shift that puts the business once defined by rockets and satellites on new footing.

How much money did SpaceX make last quarter?

SpaceX posted $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue, TechCrunch reported, with growth across every segment. The company's renamed "Super Intelligence" business line brought in $7.5 billion of that total, driven by the Cursor coding tool, the Grok chatbot, and what the filing described as a fast-growing "neocloud" data center operation now running 1.7 gigawatts of compute.

That AI unit generated $431 million in profit, a figure that would have been higher without $1.2 billion in one-time stock-based compensation tied to the Cursor acquisition, according to the filing. The top-line revenue number also got a lift from roughly $1 billion in bitcoin-related gains and unspecified related-party income, TechCrunch reported.

What is SpaceX spending money on right now?

The company's total capital expenditures hit $19.6 billion for the quarter. Most of that is going toward Colossus II, a second data center project, and continued work on Starship, the heavy-lift rocket SpaceX is counting on to launch a new generation of Starlink satellites and, eventually, orbital data centers.

Elon Musk told investors he is now spending four days a week in Memphis, Tennessee, where Colossus II is being built, working to get the facility online, TechCrunch reported.

"People are starting to realize [that] the constraint on deployment of super intelligence is more in power and cooling and infrastructure than it is in chips," Musk said, adding that SpaceX engineers have been assigned to solve that bottleneck. "This is a bit like the New York Yankees playing in Little League. It's not fair, but the net result is being able to deploy power cooling infrastructure at a rate that is vastly faster than anyone else."

What is next for Starship?

Musk said the next Starship test flight, expected in November, will attempt to recover both the first-stage booster and the second stage. He called that a potential "massive technology milestone," but said the real goal is re-flying both stages afterward, according to TechCrunch.

Is Starlink still growing?

Yes. Starlink subscribers climbed to 13.6 million, TechCrunch reported. Musk said he expects growing use of AI agents to drive more demand for internet connectivity going forward.

What to watch

• November Starship launch: SpaceX will attempt to recover both rocket stages, a step toward routine reuse.
• Colossus II progress in Memphis: Musk's four-day-a-week schedule signals the data center buildout is a near-term priority.
• AI profit margins: The $1.2 billion in one-time Cursor-related compensation costs will not repeat every quarter, which could change future profit figures.
• Starlink subscriber growth: Watch whether AI agent demand actually drives new sign-ups as Musk predicted.
• Capital spending pace: $19.6 billion in one quarter raises the question of how SpaceX finances both rockets and data centers at once.

SpaceX did not release a public earnings call transcript or investor letter alongside the figures cited in the filing, per TechCrunch's reporting.