SpaceX’s AI business brought in more revenue than its Connectivity segment, which includes Starlink, for the first time in the third quarter. The company reported $14.6 billion in total sales, alongside $19.6 billion in capital spending.

The results, released October 20, show how quickly AI has grown inside SpaceX. They also reveal the scale of the infrastructure investment behind that growth.

AI revenue moves ahead of Connectivity

Super Intelligence generated $7.56 billion in the three months ended September 30, up 830% from a year earlier, according to SpaceX’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • Super Intelligence: $7.56 billion in revenue
  • Connectivity, including Starlink: $5.25 billion
  • Space: $1.77 billion

SpaceX attributed the AI segment’s sales to new cloud-services agreements, its acquisition of coding company Cursor, and increased adoption of Grok. Overall revenue rose 161% year over year.

The growth came with a steep investment bill

SpaceX reported $19.6 billion in capital expenditure for the quarter. Of that total, $16.4 billion went to Super Intelligence. The AI investment alone exceeded the company’s revenue from the quarter.

Capital spending is not the same as an operating loss. It reflects investment in infrastructure, but the figures show how much SpaceX is putting behind its AI expansion.

The segment recorded $431 million in operating income. SpaceX said that figure included $1.2 billion in share-based compensation tied to the Cursor acquisition. Company-wide net income was $4.4 billion.

Starlink remains the bigger profit engine

AI is now SpaceX’s largest business by revenue, but it has not displaced Starlink as the company’s main profit generator. The Associated Press reported that Starlink remained SpaceX’s largest source of profit in the quarter.

AI led SpaceX’s businesses in revenue, while Starlink remained its largest profit generator. The same quarter brought $19.6 billion in capital spending, including $16.4 billion for AI.