SpaceX Expected to Become One of NVIDIA’s Biggest Vera Rubin AI GPU Buyers in 2027
SpaceX could become one of the largest customers for NVIDIA’s next-generation Vera Rubin AI hardware in 2027, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities. The forecast suggests that Elon Musk’s company may absorb a significant share of NVIDIA’s upcoming NVL72 rack supply as demand for artificial intelligence computing infrastructure continues to surge.
Pu estimates that NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin NVL72 rack market could reach around 73,000 units by the end of 2026 and climb to roughly 96,000 units by the end of 2027. Within that 2027 forecast, SpaceX is expected to play a major role, with demand reportedly reaching 30,000 NVL72 racks. However, the company is expected to receive an allocation of about 20,000 racks, which would still represent nearly 21% of projected industry supply for that year.
The prediction highlights how aggressively SpaceX may be expanding into AI-focused computing infrastructure. While the company is best known for rockets, satellites, and Starlink connectivity, it has increasingly been viewed as part of the broader high-performance computing ecosystem. AI workloads require massive clusters of specialized chips, and NVIDIA remains the dominant supplier of the GPUs used to train and run advanced artificial intelligence models.
The report also points to a widening gap between financially strong buyers and smaller cloud infrastructure providers. Musk recently commented on the rising pressure in the neocloud market, where companies build data centers specifically for AI workloads. These businesses often depend heavily on debt to purchase expensive GPUs and build supporting infrastructure.
According to Musk, SpaceX has been able to raise substantial debt financing because of its strong credit profile and diversified revenue streams. He warned that many smaller AI cloud providers may struggle as borrowing costs remain high and competition intensifies. In his view, the market could see major consolidation, with only a limited number of companies surviving long term.
Pu’s estimates suggest that six major neocloud operators will account for about 35% of NVIDIA’s expected NVL72 rack demand in 2027. Together, these companies are projected to purchase around 34,000 of the estimated 96,000 racks. SpaceX is expected to be the largest buyer within that group.
NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform is expected to succeed the company’s current Blackwell-generation AI systems and serve as a major driver of data center revenue in the coming years. The NVL72 rack design combines large numbers of GPUs into a tightly integrated system built for large-scale AI training and inference. These racks are highly complex and extremely expensive, with costs often estimated in the millions of dollars per unit due to advanced components, networking, cooling requirements, and tight memory supply.
Although NVIDIA designs and manufactures the GPUs, final rack assembly is handled by major contract manufacturing partners. Pu believes Foxconn has secured as much as 45% of SpaceX’s data center-related orders, positioning the Taiwanese manufacturing giant as a key beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom.
The analyst also noted that Vera Rubin production appears to be progressing well, with first-pass yields reportedly above 85%. If production continues to improve, supply could accelerate further in early 2027, supporting NVIDIA’s ability to meet rising demand from large cloud and AI infrastructure customers.
For NVIDIA, SpaceX’s expected demand would reinforce the company’s central role in the global AI buildout. For SpaceX, securing a large allocation of Vera Rubin systems could give it a powerful position in AI computing, especially if demand for high-performance infrastructure continues to outpace supply.
The broader takeaway is clear: the AI data center race is becoming increasingly capital-intensive. Companies with strong balance sheets, reliable cash flow, and access to financing are likely to have an advantage in securing NVIDIA’s most advanced hardware. If Pu’s forecast proves accurate, SpaceX could emerge as one of the most important buyers of next-generation AI GPU systems by 2027.
