Google to Pay Musk $920 Million a Month for AI Computing Capacity

The headquarters of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in California. (AFP)
The headquarters of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in California. (AFP)
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Google to Pay Musk $920 Million a Month for AI Computing Capacity

The headquarters of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in California. (AFP)
The headquarters of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in California. (AFP)

SpaceX on Friday signed a blockbuster cloud computing agreement under which Google will pay the Elon Musk-founded rocket company $920 million per month for access to a massive cluster of AI chips, according to a disclosure in its initial public offering filing.

The deal, which will bolster SpaceX's finances ahead of its IPO on June 12, covers a computing infrastructure of approximately 110,000 Nvidia GPUs -- the crucial hardware needed to power Google's Gemini AI models.

The filing says Google will begin paying the full monthly rate in October 2026, with a reduced fee applying during a ramp-up period until then, AFP reported.

The agreement runs through June 2029, implying total payments of roughly $30 billion over the life of the contract.

The deal resembles one struck with AI giant Anthropic, in which SpaceX leased compute capacity at its Colossus data centers in Memphis, Tennessee for $1.25 billion a month.

The facilities were originally built to power Musk's rival AI venture, xAI.

SpaceX's IPO filing revealed that xAI last year posted an operating loss of $6.4 billion on total revenue of $3.2 billion.

"This is a short-term, timely agreement to ensure we have bridge capacity to meet surging customer demand for our agent platform, Gemini Enterprise, which has been even higher than we expected," a Google Cloud spokesperson said in an email to AFP.

The filing adds that after December 31, "the agreement may be terminated by either party upon 90 days' notice."

The deals with Google and Anthropic come just days ahead of SpaceX's IPO, which will be the biggest in history, valuing the company at $1.8 trillion.

That valuation is largely based on faith that Musk can deliver on his ambitions to vastly expand his Starlink satellite business, put data centers into space using SpaceX rockets, as well as begin colonizing Mars.



IEA Ready to Go if Further Oil Stocks Release Needed, Chief Says

A pumpjack operates after sunrise in Kern County, which has a long history of oil production, in California's 22nd Congressional District on October 16, 2026 near Bakersfield, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
A pumpjack operates after sunrise in Kern County, which has a long history of oil production, in California's 22nd Congressional District on October 16, 2026 near Bakersfield, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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IEA Ready to Go if Further Oil Stocks Release Needed, Chief Says

A pumpjack operates after sunrise in Kern County, which has a long history of oil production, in California's 22nd Congressional District on October 16, 2026 near Bakersfield, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
A pumpjack operates after sunrise in Kern County, which has a long history of oil production, in California's 22nd Congressional District on October 16, 2026 near Bakersfield, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

The International Energy Agency is ready to go if a further release of oil from members' emergency oil reserves is needed, the agency's top official said on Tuesday.

The IEA decided last week to accelerate the release of oil remaining from a record emergency reserves release pledged in March, including more than 20 million barrels of diesel as soon as possible to boost supply ‌and cool ‌soaring prices.

"If it is needed...and if ‌our ⁠countries consider it’s ⁠time to push the button, as the International Energy Agency, we are ready to go,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at a conference in London organized by the Financial Times, when asked about the prospect of an additional release.

The timeline for the ⁠release of 20 million barrels of ‌diesel depends on individual countries, ‌he said, without giving a specific timeframe.

"How much is ‌released and when depends on the countries, depends on ‌the situation of winter markets," Birol said.

War in Iran and conflict in Ukraine have disrupted oil supplies, sending diesel prices to record highs in many markets and turning ‌the fuel that underpins trucking, agriculture and industry into a political and economic ⁠concern.

"We’re trying ⁠to front-load those diesel deliveries,” Birol added.

Brent crude oil rose to more than $111 a barrel on Tuesday, a five-month high. European benchmark diesel futures were trading at $1482.25 per metric ton, up almost 4% since the IEA’s decision on Thursday.

The IEA coordinates industrialized nations' releases of oil from emergency stocks. In March, countries had pledged to release more than 400 million barrels of crude and oil products as prices soared.

Members have so far released 80% of the 400 million barrels, Birol said.


Kurdistan-focused Oil Firms Gulf Keystone, ShaMaran Agree $601 Million Merger

An oil field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Reuters)
An oil field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Reuters)
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Kurdistan-focused Oil Firms Gulf Keystone, ShaMaran Agree $601 Million Merger

An oil field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Reuters)
An oil field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Reuters)

UK-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum said on Tuesday it will merge with Norway's ShaMaran Petroleum in a $601 million all-share deal, creating one of the largest oil producers in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Under the agreement, ShaMaran shareholders will receive 0.07533958 Gulf ⁠Keystone shares for ⁠each ShaMaran share held.

Following completion of deal, shareholders of each company will own about 50% of the combined ⁠company.

Gulf Keystone intends to move its primary listing to Euronext Oslo Børs' main list and eventually discontinue its London listing, the company said.

The merger comes as dealmaking among Middle East-focused oil companies gathers pace, supported ⁠by ⁠higher oil prices stemming from the Middle East war.

Gulf Keystone's London-listed peer Genel Energy is competing with Norway's DNO to acquire Capricorn Energy, Reuters reported.

Gulf Keystone, Genel, DNO and ShaMaran all operate in Iraq's oil-rich Kurdistan region.


Macron Secures 200,000 Tons of Extra Diesel Per Month from UAE, Bahrain

France's President Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting with the UAE president at Qasr al-Watan presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting with the UAE president at Qasr al-Watan presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP)
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Macron Secures 200,000 Tons of Extra Diesel Per Month from UAE, Bahrain

France's President Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting with the UAE president at Qasr al-Watan presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting with the UAE president at Qasr al-Watan presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron has secured the delivery of an additional 200,000 tons of diesel per month from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a tour of the Gulf, the French presidency said Tuesday.

He obtained commitments for around 100,000 tons per month from the Emirates, while an additional 100,000 tons monthly will be secured during a stop in Bahrain later in the day, AFP quoted the Elysee Palace as saying.

With the addition of deliveries from Saudi Arabia, France has commitments for 295,000 tons per month, representing just over 10 percent of its consumption, the presidency added.

Kuwait has also given "very clear commitments" to deliver diesel and kerosene to the French overseas territories of Mayotte and Reunion in the Indian Ocean, the French presidency said.

Talks are underway with countries in the region to bring down maritime insurance prices so that companies can ship greater quantities through the strait at lower cost, the palace said.

"In this way, we are strengthening our energy security with these long-term commitments from our partners," it added.