Finland's Sand Battery Cuts Emissions 70% Without a Single Rare Earth

By Haley Zaremba - Aug 01, 2026

• Finland's Pornainen, population 5,000, just switched on the world's largest sand battery, built by Polar Night Energy for district heating company Loviisan Lämpö.
• 
  
• The battery can cover roughly a month of the town's summer heating demand or a week in winter, and has cut heating-related emissions by nearly 70 percent.
• 
  
• It's a hedge against Europe's lithium-ion bottleneck as the EU races to triple storage capacity to 200 GW by 2030, still trailing the US (137 GW) and China (213.3 GW).
• 
  

Europe is falling far behind on energy storage installation exactly when it’s most needed. The continent’s energy security is under significant threat as it contends with its third energy crisis in four years thanks to the region’s over-reliance on imported fossil fuels. While the European Union has made major inroads toward adding solar and wind capacity to help diversify the bloc’s energy mix, energy storage capacities have lagged behind, creating new vulnerabilities for the grid and for energy markets alike.

“Without optimised storage, the EU remains dependent on imported fossil gas to fill gaps when the sun sets or winds fade,” explains Euronews. “Despite renewables supplying 44 per cent of EU electricity, the bloc still imports around 55 per cent of its total energy, including oil and gas.”

Wasted renewable energy at peak production hours has led to continually rising levels of negative pricing on European energy markets, as utilities essentially have to pay consumers to take excess electricity when supply outstrips demand. And even as Europe races to address the issue, it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. PV magazine warns that “Europe’s electricity markets could face greater volatility in the third quarter of 2026 as weather conditions, high solar output, and limited flexibility resources widen the gap between midday renewable generation and evening demand peaks.”

In response to this mounting challenge, the European Commission has pledged to triple the European Union’s storage capacity, targeting 200 GW by 2030 from its current level of just 55 GW. By comparison, the United States already has 137 GW of grid-scale storage capacity, which, in turn, is absolutely dwarfed by China’s installed capacity at nearly 213.3 GW.

Most of the targeted storage additions will come from lithium-ion batteries, the dominant technology in the global energy storage sector. But while lithium is readily available, scalable, and high-performing in a wide range of conditions, lithium-ion batteries have significant drawbacks in the context of energy storage solutions. While balancing supply and demand of intermittent energy supplies like solar and wind power will require energy to be stored over entire days and even seasons, lithium-ion batteries only store energy for a maximum of about four hours. Moreover, lithium-ion battery supply chains are almost entirely controlled by China, leaving Europe facing eerily familiar vulnerabilities in the face of geopolitical conflict.

Breaking lithium’s chokehold on energy storage markets, and therefore China’s near-monopoly on battery technologies will require a rapid advancement of alternative battery technologies to compete with lithium and diversify the sector. One small town in Finland is attempting to do just that, innovating what could be a cutting-edge next gen battery model built upon one of the most low-tech materials available: sand.

Commissioned by Finnish district heating company Loviisan Lämpö has commissioned the world’s largest sand battery from Polar Night Energy in the small town of Pornainen, population 5,000. The battery has the capacity to meet nearly a month of the town’s heating demands in the summer and up to a week in the winter.

“We’re changing from a world where big power plants were doing the energy production to where solar and wind are producing the energy, then we need a massive amount of storage,” Tommi Eronen, CEO of Polar Night Energy, was recently quoted by CNBC. “Hopefully a big portion of those storages could be sand battery-type of storages where we don’t need rare earth materials, like in many chemical batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries,” she went on to say.

While the sand battery is not nearly as energy-efficient as lithium-ion batteries, it has other critical advantages. Officials from Polar Night claim that the project has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the town’s previous heating network by almost 70 percent. While this approach won’t be able to solve Europe’s energy storage crisis or unseat lithium’s role on its own, it could serve as a promising model for other similar contexts. More to the point, it’s one piece of a bigger puzzle as Europe attempts to build greater energy resilience and sustainability through diversification.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

More than 4 million Americans have lost SNAP benefits as food assistance changes take hold

Bolarinwa Oladeji
Mon, August 3, 2026

THE GRIO


FILE - SNAP EBT information sign is displayed at a gas station in Riverwoods, Ill., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)

The reduction comes ahead of even broader changes scheduled to take effect over the next two years under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

More than four million Americans are no longer receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a series of federal policy changes begins to reshape the nation's largest food assistance program, prompting concern from anti-hunger advocates and policy experts.

According to NPR's analysis of preliminary U.S. Department of Agriculture data, average monthly SNAP participation has fallen from roughly 42 million recipients last July to about 37 million as of April, representing an 11% decline nationwide. The reduction comes ahead of even broader changes scheduled to take effect over the next two years under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The legislation expands work requirements for several groups that were previously exempt, including some veterans, adults experiencing homelessness, older Americans between ages 55 and 64, certain parents of teenagers, and young adults who have aged out of foster care. It also narrows eligibility for some noncitizens who had previously qualified for food assistance.

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture has argued that SNAP participation naturally fluctuates and may also reflect a stronger economy, NPR reported that analysts at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities dispute that explanation, pointing to relatively stable unemployment alongside persistently high grocery prices. The organization contends that policy changes and administrative hurdles are driving much of the decline.

The impact has varied across the country. NPR's reporting highlighted Arizona as one of the hardest-hit states, where SNAP enrollment has dropped by more than 400,000 people over the past year. Officials with the Arizona Food Bank Network say food banks there are now serving more people each month than are enrolled in the federal nutrition program.

Additional changes are still on the horizon. Beginning in October, states will assume a significantly larger share of SNAP's administrative costs. Starting in 2027, some states could also be required to help fund food benefits if they exceed certain payment error thresholds.

As NPR noted, several advocacy organizations and state officials have warned that the new financial burden could force some states to tighten eligibility further or reduce participation if costs become unsustainable.

Experts caution that food banks and charitable organizations are unlikely to have the capacity to replace the assistance SNAP currently provides for millions of low-income households.

SNAP recipients, some middle-class families get $60 monthly for produce in new bill. Who qualifies?

Alix Martichoux
Sun, August 2, 2026 

SNAP recipients, some middle-class families get $60 monthly for produce in new bill. Who qualifies?

(NEXSTAR) – Some families could start getting $60 a month in extra food assistance, a new bill introduced in July proposes.

The "Fresh Bucks for Fresh Produce" Act would establish a pilot program that awards grants to states so they can give the extra grocery money to lower-income and moderate-income people. To qualify for increased benefits, households would need to earn 80% or less than the median income of their area.

SNAP recipients would qualify for an added monthly benefit, but those who don't receive SNAP money could also apply.

Eligible households would then get an additional $60 on top of their usual monthly SNAP benefits loaded onto their EBT cards, or a new EBT card if they aren't receiving food assistance already.

The $60 would need to be spent on fruit or vegetables, which can be fresh, frozen or dried.

41 states at risk of losing federal SNAP funds, new data shows: What to know

Who would get the additional funding?

The bill proposes establishing a new grant program that would give certain states the extra funding to establish the pilot program. States would have to apply for the extra funding, and preference will be given to states that "prioritize food insecure communities," the bill says

If your state were to participate in the pilot program, then your household would be eligible to receive the extra $60 per month if you earn less than 80% of the area's median income.

That income cap would vary greatly from place to place, from around $63,000 in Bismarck, North Dakota, to something like $113,000 in San Francisco, California. The exact income limits would be determined by the Departments of Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development.

The legislation was inspired by a pilot program in Seattle, which led to higher food security and participants having better access to produce, according to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who introduced the bill in Congress.

Inflation is slashing middle-class incomes. Here's where it's worst

What happens next?

The bill has quite a few hurdles to overcome before it becomes law. It was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture after being introduced on July 2. Members of that committee now have the opportunity to review the bill and make changes before potentially introducing it to the whole House for a vote. Then it would be up to the Senate to pass it and the president to sign it.

Rep. Jayapal urged Congress to take swift action. "We must pass this legislation to expand the program nationwide and get families in every corner of the country healthy produce they can afford."

An estimated 37 million Americans receive benefits under SNAP, previously called the Food Stamp Program. Recent changes have cut the number of people who qualify for food assistance, and more cuts could be on the way.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


SNAP benefits for immigrants lawsuit launches in blue states

Chris Wade
Mon, August 3, 2026 



A bronze statue of Lady Justice holding scales. Photo: deep Bhullar / Pexels

Key takeaways

New York Attorney General Leticia James leads a group of Democrats suing the Trump administration over SNAP eligibility requirements for non-citizens.


(The Center Square) — New York Attorney General Leticia James is leading a group of Democrats suing the Trump administration over a requirement to turn over personal information about SNAP recipients.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, James and 20 other attorneys general argue that the Department of Agriculture's recent guidance declaring that some immigrants, including refugees and those granted asylum, are ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is illegal. The AGs ask a federal judge to block enforcement of the policy.

In the 60-page complaint, the Democrats said the USDA's new policy requiring non-citizens to have lived in the country for 5 years to receive SNAP benefits means that anyone entering the country — including those admitted through humanitarian protection programs for asylum seekers and refugees — would automatically be ineligible for temporary food assistance.

The USDA's push to enforce the new rules also "threatens to destabilize SNAP nationwide," according to the lawsuit, and puts a significant financial strain on states that would have to shoulder the cost of fines for violations.

The AGs pointed out that the Trump administration has been blocked by recent federal court rulings from accessing personal information of welfare recipients to probe for immigration violations.

"This Administration has used every means at its disposal to erode federal confidentiality protections and deploy unsubstantiated allegations of "fraud" in order to target plaintiff States' anti-poverty programs, TANF included, and particularly to target the benefits these programs provide by law to qualified immigrants and children in immigrant communities," the AGs wrote in the complaint.

"Courts have repeatedly enjoined the Administration's prior efforts to share information in violation of federal confidentiality protections and to target disfavored benefit recipients," the lawsuit states.

In October, the USDA issued new guidance to states curtailing SNAP eligibility for non-citizens, as it implemented spending cuts and expanded work requirements approved by President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The Trump administration has threatened to withhold food aid from recipients in most Democratic-controlled states unless those states provide information about recipients.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at the time that the agency wants to "make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them" and also "to ensure that the American taxpayer is protected." She has cited data showing that 186,000 deceased people are receiving SNAP benefits and another 500,000 have been getting double benefits.

In 2025, roughly 42 million people received food stamps to help pay for their groceries, or about one and eight Americans, according to the USDA. As of April, that number dropped to about 37 million, the agency said.

Other states that signed onto Monday's lawsuit included California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

James, a Democrat who has sued the Trump administration more than 74 times, claims the Trump administration is "illegally" cutting off SNAP benefits — formerly known as food stamps — for tens of thousands of lawful permanent residents.

"The federal government's shameful quest to take food away from children and families continues," James said in the statement. "USDA has no authority to arbitrarily cut entire groups of people out of the SNAP program, and no one should go hungry because of the circumstances of their arrival to this country."

Contractors building border wall ordered to stop drilling (WATER) wells in drought-stricken New Mexico

MIKELLA SCHUETTLER

AP
Mon, August 3, 2026 


Construction crews drill wells for border wall construction in July 2026, in Luna County, N.M., along the US-Mexico border. (Russell Johnson via AP) (Russell Johnson via AP)

Construction crews drill wells for border wall construction in July 2026, in Luna County, N.M., along the US-Mexico border. (Russell Johnson via AP) (Russell Johnson via AP)

PHOENIX (AP) — The Trump administration has ordered construction crews on a border wall to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico after ranchers said pumping groundwater needed to make concrete could threaten their livestock.

The order comes as crews across the southern border race to complete one of President Donald Trump's highest domestic priorities — barriers that span four states and received over $46 billion in federal funding. Controversies have sprouted up in Texas and California, with border-town residents and environmentalists reporting a wide variety of issues with construction.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees border wall construction, has said water is needed to make concrete for roads, wall construction and dust suppression. Cattle ranchers in the area say the drought has already forced them to reduce their herd size.

"It would put us in an immediate catastrophe and having to do something with our livestock. I mean, it could potentially put some people out of business, us included," said Russell Johnson, a cattle rancher whose property runs along the border.

Johnson raised the issue at a public meeting in July after noticing an industrial well, which drilling crews told him would pump 300 gallons a minute, on land he leases for grazing. Johnson has roughly 12 wells across his ranch, which pump between three and seven gallons a minute.

A spokesperson for CBP said on Monday that border wall contractors in New Mexico have been instructed to stop drilling new wells, but did not comment on whether the wells already drilled could be pumped. The agency said they would collaborate with New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a groundwater strategy.

"CBP is committed to working collaboratively with local landowners to ensure that construction activities do not adversely impact their water needs," read the statement.

The federal contractors building the wall in New Mexico — Caddell Construction Co. and Fisher Industries — did not respond to emails or phone calls seeking comment. Messages left with receptionists for Barnard Construction and Spencer Construction Co., the contractors building near Johnson's ranch, were not immediately returned.
State agency that monitors wells said contractors drilled illegally

The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, which monitors and approves wells across the state, said staff have counted eight wells drilled without the office's permission along the southern border, but cautioned there could be more. Staff visited two wells in July and reported they were pumping 200 gallons per minute.

"All non-tribal wells in New Mexico, whether they are drilled on state or federal land, must have permits from the state engineer before they can be drilled or water can be pumped from them," the Office of the State Engineer said in a statement.

The wells for border construction were all drilled on a federally owned strip of land 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of the border called the Roosevelt Reservation. CBP did not respond to follow up questions about whether the federal government has a right to pump groundwater on federal land without state oversight.

Cattle ranchers report culling herds due to water scarcity

Tom Patterson, president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, says water is the No. 1 concern for ranchers and that if wells start to go dry, it's already too late. During wall construction in Trump's first term, Patterson said, contractors bought water from farms, ranches, or municipalities in the area, which meant the amount of water being pumped from nearby basins didn't increase during construction.

"Why do they need all this water?" said Patterson. "And why can't they buy it as they have in the past from farmers, ranchers, or even from Luna County?"

Johnson said the moratorium on future well drilling is a step in the right direction, but he's still worried after a contractor told him the well near his ranch could eventually be pumped if crews ended up needing the water. Though beef prices are up, Johnson has been forced to reduce his herd to one third its original capacity. He cites the drought, which has left less grass for cattle to graze on, as the main reason for the drop.

Before the first border wall went up, Johnson remembers seeing at least one truck of people crossing his ranch every week. Now, he says illegal crossing hardly ever happens on his ranch. As a former Border Patrol agent, he supports the border wall but doesn't believe it should cost him his livelihood.

So far, half a mile of secondary wall has gone up near Johnson's property.

"They need to stop pumping all of these wells because they were all drilled illegally," Johnson said.
New Mexico politicians scramble to claim credit for deal

Both candidates in the race for a congressional seat that represents this area in New Mexico claimed credit for the moratorium.

Congressional candidate Greg Cunningham, a Republican, said he advocated for the agreement between CBP and border wall contractors and was the first to announce the news over social media on Friday.

"Ranchers, families and local officials brought us their concerns. I raised it with the Trump Administration. They listened. They acted fast," Cunningham said in a post on X.

Congressman Gabe Vasquez, who faces Cunningham in November's midterm elections, spoke about the issue on the House floor earlier this month.

"This illegal drilling by this administration should never have happened, but when it did, I heard our ranchers' concerns loud and clear and immediately raised hell in Washington to get the job done and protect New Mexicans' water rights."

___

Schuettler is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

 

Musk likely to face tough questions during SpaceX's first earnings call as a public company

By

The Associated Press

Opens in new window

August 04, 2026 

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

NEW YORK — Investors in Elon Musk’s space company get a chance to question him Tuesday after SpaceX issues its first quarterly earnings since going public.

SpaceX shares are down by half from their June peak as investors worry Musk may have oversold them on its future prospects. They’re also bracing for volatile trading as some company insiders get the opportunity to sell shares after the expiration of what’s known as a lockup provision later in the week.

Part visionary engineer, part stock salesman, Musk is likely to be asked about when he expects to finish testing SpaceX’s giant Starship rockets that NASA hopes to use to put men on the moon again, his plans for its satellite network and the prospects of putting football-field sized datacenters in orbit.

Given rumors of SpaceX possibly merging with Musk’s Tesla car company, he may also face questions about that tie-up but that is likely to yield few details. Neither company has confirmed plans for a combination and Musk has parried questions before by noting securities regulations bar him from discussing the issue.

SpaceX is losing money fast, with net losses for its first half this year expected to exceed more than the US$5 billion in losses for all of last year. Some analysts have pencilled in a strong rebound for the rest of the year that will return it to profitability.

For the second quarter ended June, SpaceX is expected to report a net loss of $1.9 billion, or 23 cents a share, according to a FactSet survey of analysts.

SpaceX insiders were barred from selling in the public offering in June but that prohibition begins to ease on Thursday when more than 900,000 shares are released for trading, more than doubling the amount currently available for trading. The prospect has weighed on the shares, which closed Monday at $114.46, down from both the peak of $225 in June and also the IPO price of $135.

The lockup release is the first of several tranches of stock that will be freed to trade over the next several months.

After an abandoned launch, the Starship rocket successfully deployed satellites in orbit during a test late last month. Future tests could include trying to use giant arms at its Starbase launching site in Texas to grab the rocket and its booster upon its hovering return to earth.

SpaceX’s satellite communication business, Starlink, is a big cash generator for the company with contracts around the world. The company also runs a money-losing AI business, known for its Grok tool, as well as the social media platform X, the rennamed Twitter.

Bernard Conodn, The Associated Press

US House Democrat asks Musk to answer for polluting xAI data centers

A drone view shows the xAI Colossus 2 "Macrohard" data centre in Southaven, Mississippi, U.S., May 30, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm · 

Wed, July 29, 2026

July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on ‌Wednesday demanded documents and answers from Elon Musk ‌about the environmental and public health impacts of his xAI Colossus data ​center operations in Tennessee and Mississippi.


• Pallone sent a letter to Musk seeking information on turbines used at the Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 artificial intelligence data centers, emissions data, permitting ‌records and communications with ⁠government officials.

• Pallone also requested analyses related to the facilities' emissions, power consumption and water usage, ⁠and asked to arrange a visit to the sites with committee staff.

• The New Jersey Democrat said Musk's SpaceX, which owns ​xAI, ​had been unwilling to provide ​sufficient information during a meeting ‌with committee staff last month and accused the company of showing "disregard for the health and well-being of local communities."

• The letter follows growing scrutiny of the energy demands and environmental impacts of AI data centers as technology companies race to ‌expand computing capacity.

• Reuters reported this ​month that Musk's AI company xAI ​had installed 59 ​natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 project ‌without securing federal clean-air permits, ​according to communications ​between regulators and company representatives. Reuters found the turbines were located near predominantly Black communities and that potential ​emissions exceeded thresholds ‌that would typically require federal permits.

• SpaceX did not ​immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Nichola ​Groom; Editing by David Gregorio)

Musk Touted Data Centers in Space to SpaceX IPO Investors. Peter Zeihan Calls the Idea 'So Many Levels of Dumb'

Daragh Thomas
July 26, 2026

Elon Musk's SpaceX pitched orbital data centers as a central part of its record-breaking IPO, but geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan says the physics may not cooperate.

In a recent video, Zeihan argued a one-gigawatt orbital data center would require roughly 500 Starship launches to assemble.
High-end chips cannot survive radiation in space, Zeihan said, so the entire facility would need shielding. That shielding would weigh roughly 20 million pounds.

"There's so many levels of dumb to this," Zeihan said, adding that anyone raising funds on the concept "thinks you're stupid."

Space Is Cold, But It Doesn't Cool

GPUs run extremely hot, and on Earth, data centers use air and water to carry that heat away. Space has neither, so there is nothing to carry the heat off. The only way out is radiator fins, spanning tens of square kilometers. Zeihan estimated those radiators alone would cost $250 billion.

Wall Street analysts are less brutal, but not by much. Energy research firm Wood Mackenzie recently modeled the full cost of a 1 GW orbital data center at roughly $170 billion. Much less than Zeihan's estimates, but still three times the cost for an Earth-based facility.

What SpaceX Actually Promised

Following its February acquisition of xAI, SpaceX pitched itself to IPO investors as a vertically integrated AI company, not just a launch provider.

Its S-1 says orbital AI compute satellites could begin deploying as early as 2028. The company claims these satellites will carry over 100 kilowatts of compute per metric ton, with a long-term target of 100 gigawatts launched per year.

For now, the real money remains on Earth. Anthropic agreed in May to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for capacity at its terrestrial Colossus data centers, a deal either side can end with 90 days' notice.

The filing's own risk factors concede that orbital compute involves unproven technologies, or "technologies that do not exist," and may not achieve commercial viability.

Kalshi traders give a 1-megawatt orbital data center just a 14% chance of going live before January 2029, despite the S-1's 2028 target. Odds rise to only 39% before 2035.

SpaceX plans Texas data center expansion, The Information reports

Work continues on the gigabay at the SpaceX production facility in Starbase, Texas ·

 Reuters

Reuters
July 22, 2026

July 22 (Reuters) - SpaceX is preparing for at least one new large-scale data ‌center in Texas, The Information reported on ‌Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The expansion would ​significantly increase the company's AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis-area hub, where it operates two data centers with about 1 gigawatt ‌of compute capacity.

Here ⁠are some details:

• SpaceX has explored several potential data center sites ⁠in Texas in recent months, according to the report.

• The company is considering building multiple ​data centers ​from scratch and ​retrofitting an existing warehouse, ‌the report added.

• SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

• The company aims for a Texas expansion on a similar or larger scale than its ‌existing Memphis-area facilities, the ​report said.

• SpaceX has already ​sent some ​existing data center staff to Texas ‌in preparation for the expansion, ​according to ​The Information.

• SpaceX signed AI computing deals with Anthropic in May and Google ​in June, ‌broadening its efforts to monetize its AI ​infrastructure.

(Reporting by Anzar Mehraj in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Tasim Zahid)

Elon Musk is looking for trades workers to build AI data centers — and his (IN) famous 3-bullet-point requirement applies

Natalie Musumeci
Mon, August 3, 2026 

Business Insider 


Elon Musk is looking to hire skilled trades workers for his AI data center buildout.


He said in an X post that SpaceX is hiring talent to build data centers "on & off Earth."


Applicants were asked to email "3 bullet points demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability."

Elon Musk is reviving one of his famed hiring tactics as he recruits skilled trades workers for the AI data center buildout by his rocket company, SpaceX.

Musk, in an X post last week, said SpaceX is hiring "exceptional engineering & skilled trades talent to build & operate the most powerful AI supercomputer clusters on & off Earth."

The "off Earth" reference reflects Musk's vision of placing data centers in space as a potential solution to AI's soaring energy demands.

Interested applicants were asked to email "3 bullet points demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability," along with their resume, to datacenters@spacex.com.

The three-bullet-point requirement has become a hallmark of the world's richest man's recruiting style.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has previously asked potential candidates for white-collar roles at his companies to provide three bullet points "demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability" or three bullet points on the "toughest technical problems" they've solved.

Musk's hiring push for trades workers to build data centers comes as SpaceX plays an increasingly central role in his AI ambitions. Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired Musk's AI startup, xAI, which was rebranded as SpaceXAI.

SpaceXAI now operates Colossus, the massive AI supercomputer campus built in Memphis, Tennessee, that trains the company's Grok AI models.

NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Says 'Never Bet Against' Elon Musk, Adds 'We Can't Do It Without' SpaceX for Moon Base

Badar Shaikh
July 28, 2026 



NASA Administrator and former Shift4 Payments Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) CEO Jared Isaacman has backed Elon Musk and Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s (NASDAQ:SPCX) goal of establishing space-based compute capacity via orbital data centers.
AI Race Healthy for NASA

During an appearance on the Moonshot podcast on Monday, Isaacman said that the Artificial Intelligence race was "extremely healthy" for NASA. He then said that if "Elon and SpaceX are betting on this [orbital data centers], there is no reason to believe this will not come into existence."


Read Also:Musk Touted Data Centers in Space to SpaceX IPO Investors. Peter Zeihan Calls the Idea 'So Many Levels of Dumb'

Isaacman then said that one should "never bet against an extremely well-capitalized Elon." He also shed some light upon SpaceX's IPO, saying that NASA's partners, like SpaceX, being "extremely well-capitalized" was a good thing and that the engineers at SpaceX, with Musk at the helm, left "no doubt" that orbital data centers will happen.

The NASA administrator also said that SpaceX was crucial in the agency's goal of establishing a permanent presence on the moon. "We can't do it without them," Isaacman said in the podcast. He also called Musk the "greatest entrepreneur and engineer in recent history."
Elon Musk on Orbital Data Centers, Starship

Musk, on several occasions, touted orbital data centers, with the SpaceX CEO most recently saying that the company was preparing to build the technology as soon as next year. SpaceX also revealed its AI1 satellites, which are purpose-built to carry out compute in orbit. The satellites would be a part of SpaceX's Starmind constellation.

SpaceX also carried out the 13th flight test of its flagship rocket, Starship, from the company's headquarters in Starbase, Texas. Musk also said that the launch had much higher acceleration, which was intentional, as SpaceX sought to test the rocket's heat shields.

According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, SpaceX fails to provide a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term.

Price Action: SpaceX shares were down 1.23% to $112.10 during overnight trading on Monday

SpaceXAI Eyes Texas Data Center Expansion As It Pushes Into AI Cloud Market: Report

SpaceXAI Eyes Texas Data Center Expansion As It Pushes Into AI Cloud Market: Report ·

 Stocktwits
Rounak Jain
July 22, 2026

SpaceXAI is looking to expand its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis hub as it seeks to become a major cloud provider.

The report said a Texas expansion could match or exceed the scale of SpaceXAI's existing facilities, which house around a gigawatt of compute capacity and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs.

SpaceXAI has also begun sending existing data center staff to Texas and recently posted job openings tied to data center development and construction in the state.


Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) subsidiary, SpaceXAI, is considering an expansion of its footprint in Texas with at least one new large-scale data center.

According to a report by The Information citing people familiar with the matter, SpaceXAI has explored several potential data center sites in Texas over the past few months.

See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox

SpaceX shares were down 1% in Wednesday's opening trade.

SPCX's AI Cloud Push

SpaceXAI is looking to expand its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis hub as it seeks to become a major cloud provider. The company has recently signed agreements to lease large portions of its compute capacity to customers including Anthropic and Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google, creating a new revenue stream alongside its Grok AI offerings.

The report said a Texas expansion could match or exceed the scale of SpaceXAI's existing facilities, which house around a gigawatt of compute capacity and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia Corp.'s (NVDA) GPUs. SpaceXAI has also begun sending existing data center staff to Texas and recently posted job openings tied to data center development and construction in the state.

The report added that SpaceXAI is weighing multiple approaches for the expansion, including building new facilities from the ground up and converting existing warehouses into AI data centers, similar to how it repurposed a former manufacturing facility for its first Memphis site.

SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, became a SpaceX subsidiary following an acquisition in February this year.
SpaceXAI's Growing Data Center Ambitions

SpaceXAI has significantly expanded its data center workforce over the past year, adding more than 40 hires to its Colossus team, according to the report. Following SpaceX's merger with the AI unit in February, employees from the aerospace company have also been brought in to support data center operations.

The report said the company has explored a Texas expansion for several months while reshuffling leadership overseeing its AI infrastructure. After xAI co-founder Ross Nordeen departed in March, SpaceXAI President Michael Nicolls appointed Jake Palmer to lead physical infrastructure and SpaceX software engineering director Daniel Dueri to oversee compute infrastructure.

To power its growing AI footprint, SpaceXAI has relied heavily on natural gas turbines alongside grid electricity, the report added. The company has installed dozens of mobile turbines in Tennessee and Mississippi and is developing a permanent gas-fired power plant in Mississippi through a joint venture with Solaris Energy Infrastructure.
SPCX In Talks To Power Pentagon's AI Push

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is in talks with the Defense Department to provide the agency with data center capacity worth billions of dollars.

The report added that SpaceX is also considering plans to compete directly with neocloud providers like CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV), offering AI compute capacity at a lower price.

A Pentagon deal for data center capacity would build on SpaceX's existing deal with the agency to provide access to its AI model. The Defense Department also signed similar deals with six other companies, including Nvidia, Google, Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) AWS, OpenAI, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and Reflection AI.

What Retail Traders Think Of SPCX Stock

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around SpaceX trended in the 'bearish' territory at the time of writing.

SPCX stock is down 18% year-to-date. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) are up 26% over the past 12 months.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

Rounak Jain has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits' news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits.

Musk Denies Report of $52 Billion AI Server Order

Faizan Farooque
July 20, 2026 
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

SpaceX (SPCX, Financials), the aerospace business led by Elon Musk, disputed claims that it had agreed to buy Nvidia-powered AI servers from Foxconn for billions of dollars. 

Musk slammed the idea as fake news on a post on X. The comment came following rumors that SpaceX was set to install more than 13,000 server racks based on Nvidia's GB300 architecture.

It was not a declared contract price but a value of roughly $52 billion against an estimated cost of about $4 million per rack. 

The project has been reported but not confirmed and neither SpaceX, Nvidia nor Foxconn immediately responded beyond Musk's article. 

The news initially sparked speculation that SpaceX was planning a massive expansion of its AI processing capability, with Foxconn said to be building the devices.

 The deal might also help Foxconn's AI division grow beyond current forecasts, it said.

 But the estimate has been questioned since it was published and it indicates a growing appetite from investors for large-scale AI infrastructure spending as tech companies scramble to get processing power.

Now the focus is on whether SpaceX, Nvidia or Foxconn disclose further specifics that clarify their AI infrastructure plans.

KULTURKAMPF

Right Wingers Claim Rap Music Is Dead Thanks to … Elon’s USAID Cuts

Nikki McCann Ramirez
Fri, July 31, 2026

ROLLING STONE



Ella Langley's mournful country ballad "Choosin' Texas" has broken record after record, sitting atop national and international charts for weeks in a row. The Rolling Stone pick for song of the summer is an easy earworm about love, loss, and the Lone Star State, but some on the right are hearing their own favorite tune: a global conspiracy.

No, the fever swamps of the right are not taking the stance that Langley is a nepo baby, or industry plant, or inflating her streams, — that would be too straightforward. Instead, over the past few weeks, some of the most prominent figures on the cultural right have spread conspiracies claiming that Langley's breakout hit was able to reach such heights because Elon Musk and DOGE defunded the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The conspiracy asserts that somehow, with its roughly $40 billion annual pre-Musk budget, USAID had been propping up the American rap industry, to the detriment of other, more "American" genres. They claim that by eliminating USAID — the now defunct international humanitarian aid agency — DOGE opened the doors for "American" country artists to once again top the charts — as if rap music is not one of the most quintessentially American cultural creations in the nation's history.

Their evidence? Well, the timing of the DOGE cuts coincides with a resurgence of country music's popularity on streaming charts. Maybe this seems plausible if you squint real hard, ignore actual streaming data, and also common sense. There's also a very blatant element of racism undergirding the whole thing.

In May, far-right social media poster and would-be musician Steve Frassen put out a call to his followers on social media. "ATTENTION PROUD WHITES:Everyone who hated rap in the 1990's and 2000's is VINDICATED," he wrote. "Rap isn't music.It's government PISS that was funded by USAID to dumb down Middle America. Take a victory lap, proud Whites who didn't fall for it!"

Within weeks, the claim made it onto the podcast of the perpetually credulous Joe Rogan, who spread it to his millions of listeners. "There's some people that believe that gangsta rap when it came about in the 1980s [… was popularized by] some faction, the government, some faction, some intelligence agencies wanting to create more crime," Rogan said — referencing older, also debunked conspiracies.

"People are pointing out that right now is like one of the rare times where no rap music is on the charts, and they're saying, 'Well, how does this coincide with USAID [being defunded]?' Was USAID like actively promoting rap music?" he went on. "Was that one of the reasons why rap music was so possible? Popular? Is that real? That can't be real."

Rogan's engagement with the conspiracy, which up until that point had been contained to the more extreme cesspools of social media, brought it to the front door of the right-wing creator economy.

Podcaster Tim Pool told his listeners in late July that "Maybe it was the USAID."

"Rap music just vanished from the Billboard Top 40 for the first time in 35 years. Strange, a couple of months — so this would have been about four months after the shuttering of USAID — rap disappears from the Billboard Hot 100. Interesting," he added.

While Langley has held the top spot for an impressive 40 weeks, the genre has not "disappeared" from the charts for that same amount of time, as some right wingers are claiming. On July 31, Drake, Lil Baby and Young Miami all held spots in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Mac Miller, Ty Dolla $ign, Don Toliver, BabyChiefDoit, and a slew of other artists made the list.

Pool, who seems to be stuck in the perpetually embittered aesthetic of a 2000s Hot Topic teen, went on to suggest that the Black Eyed Peas somehow benefited from this government intervention. "I want you to think about that Oprah performance — the Black Eyed Peas are there — and there's a big crowd, and on camera, it looks like everybody loves this band, and the song is played on the radio, and it's put in the playlists, and you will listen to what they tell you to listen," Pool complained, possibly in reference to a 2009 Oprah show kickoff party.

Click slop creator Benny Johnson claimed on Thursday that "libtards" had no response to Langley and were "in shambles" over Langley's success. To be clear, there is no discernable backlash to Langley or her music, and she has not spoken publicly about her politics.

Johnson described the hit as a song about "loving Texas," an example of the manner in which many of these creators are incapable of actual cultural comprehension and are instead simply regurgitating slightly remixed versions of formulaic culture war skirmishes for clicks.

"We were suppressed and our culture was manipulated and psy-opped by our own tax dollars and intel agencies, and Elon Musk shut it all down with USAID," Johnson said. "Libs have no answer to it. So produce another piece of mumble rap garbage, please, CIA, and tell us that we're going to like it."

He repeatedly emphasized that Langley's song had broken records set by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, two Black female artists, and added that the "queens of pop music" had been "traded for true American culture."

Country music is absolutely seeing a resurgence in popularity, with artists like Kacey Musgraves, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, and Stella Lefty all scoring major hits. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, R&B and hip-hop still remain the most popular streaming force in the first half of 2026 when taken as a whole, even as other genres gained steam. Latin, K-pop, and other foreign-language artists have also seen exponential growth.

The decline in rap and hip-hop's presence on the charts can at least partially be attributed to a controversial rule change that Billboard made in October of last year. The outlet decided to weigh paid subscription streams more heavily than ad-supported ones, setting the stage for the Hot 100 singles chart to not feature a single rap or hip-hop artist in the top 40 spots for the first time since 1990. In response to the change, YouTube pulled out of its data-sharing agreement with Billboard in December, writing that the new policy "doesn't reflect how fans engage with music today and ignores the massive engagement from fans who don't have a subscription." (Billboard and Rolling Stone are owned by the same company, Penske Media.)

It's far more likely that the genre's chart troubles have more to do with these factors, and broader ups and downs in listening patterns, than the defunding of a government agency focused primarily on health and development aid abroad. But right-wingers are not interested in the nuances of streaming data and genre growth. They see an opportunity to continue fomenting racist, nativist grievances on the back of a young artist who has done nothing to court a position as the right's latest culture war obsession — except perhaps produce a chart-topping single in the genre she loves.


Country Songs Take All Five Slots in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 5 for the First Time in Chart History

Chris Willman
Mon, August 3, 2026

VARIETY



Country music is ruling the roost like never before, at least when it comes specifically to the Billboard Hot 100. For the first time in history, country songs are claiming all five of the top five slots on the Hot 100. That's thanks to Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen, who currently stand at No. 1 on the singles and albums charts, respectively… and to Taylor Swift's return to country for a hit soundtrack… and to newcomer Stella Lefty officially joining the ranks of hitmakers.

To no one's surprise, Langley's "Choosin' Texas," the biggest single of 2026 so far, maintains its No. 1 perch in chart results reported by Billboard on Monday. Wallen's new single, "Been by Now," premieres at No. 2. Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" gets pushed down one spot on this week's chart, now landing at No. 3. In the fourth position is a duet between Langley and Wallen, "I Can't Love You Anymore." And coming in at No. 5 is Lefty's career-making "Boston," down two slots from last week, but still with plenty of room to grow.

So many statistical anomalies are included in this top 5, it's hard to know where to begin, although the aforementioned stat about this congregation of songs establishing a collective chart record is a good place to start.

The headline any other week might be about Langley's ongoing winning streak at the top of the chart. This is the 16th week at No. 1 with "Choosin' Texas," which puts Langley in ever-more-rarefied territory. "Texas" is now tied for a historic fourth place for the number of weeks spent at No. 1. The three singles it is tied with for that sweet 16 number are Wallen's "Last Night," Mariah Carey's and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" and the Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee/Justin Bieber monster "Despacito."

So, what are the next thresholds for "Choosin' Texas" to cross? If Langley holds on to No. 1 for just one more week — which is a highly likely prospect — then she will still be in fourth place on the all-time streak chart, just no longer tied for it. The next tier for her would be meeting or surpassing the two songs that are tied for second, at 19 weeks each — Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' "Old Town Road." If she gets to 20 weeks at No. 1, she will hold the record for the most weeks for a non-holiday song. Then, the final frontier would be whether she could beat Mariah Carey's annual perennial "All I Want for Christmas," which, at 22 nonconsecutive weeks, is a tough one for anyone to beat. Tagging on seven more weeks to the current 16 to claim the all-time record sounds impossible, but the song has surpassed so many expectations already that it might be foolish to bet against it.

Looking at the top 10 for this week, country has six out of those 10, since Langley's second-most-popular track, "Be Her" is in at No. 9.

The non-country songs rounding the top 10 this week are Tame Impala and Jennie's "Dracula" at No. 6, Olivia Dean's "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" at No. 7, Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me" at No. 8 and Dean's "Man I Need" at No. 10.

Dean having two songs in the top 10 and Langley having three (one of them a Wallen collaboration) may provide a glimpse of what the Grammy competition holds in store a few months from now. Voters in the four general categories have turned up their noses at country contenders for years, but Langley will provide the true test of whether the Recording Academy can really keep snubbing country or whether her dominance will mean it's time to cry uncle.