Elon Musk is pushing Tesla and SpaceX toward a massive cash raise to buy AI chips, and a merger of the two companies looks increasingly likely.

• SpaceX needs to raise roughly $1 trillion total to build out its AI data centers, far more than previously thought.
• It just took on $40 billion in debt and signed a $40 billion chip-leasing deal with Nvidia, but that only covers a fraction of the total need.
• Musk says the odds of hitting even bigger chip targets next year are rising, meaning spending could go even higher than expected.
• Merging Tesla and SpaceX is seen as the most likely way to raise that kind of money, with betting markets putting the odds above 60% before 2027 and rising toward 2028.
• Nvidia stands to benefit hugely since most of that spending would go straight to buying its chips.

Outlook: Expect more debt deals and chip-leasing announcements from SpaceX in the coming months, with pressure building toward an eventual Tesla-SpaceX merger before 2028.