Solar gospel to gas-powered AI: Musk’s pivot as SpaceX eyes a $2T IPO

Once a vocal advocate for a 100-by-100 mile solar solution to power the U.S., Elon Musk now runs xAI's Grok on 62 unpermitted methane gas turbines at two data centers, and has begun selling compute to Anthropic while positioning a space-based solar pitch to justify SpaceX’s planned $1.75–$2 trillion IPO. Grok’s popularity has fallen, the economics of orbital data centers remain dubious, and Musk’s pivot appears driven more by financial engineering for an IPO than by a practical solar energy revolution.