Elon Musk has secretly acquired APR Energy, a company that makes mobile gas and diesel turbines. The deal closed as early as May 2026 and is valued at roughly $1 billion, according to infohub.kz citing Engadget.
APR Energy specializes in portable fossil fuel generators. Its turbines are mounted on trailers, allowing quick delivery to any location. News of the purchase only emerged in official documents recently; it had not been publicly disclosed before.
The primary goal of the acquisition is to ensure uninterrupted power supply for the data centers of AI startup xAI. Running neural networks requires enormous amounts of electricity. xAI has previously faced legal trouble over such generators: in Mississippi, the company was sued for using mobile turbines at a facility in Southaven, accused of violating the Clean Air Act. Despite the lawsuit, the number of installations there increased. The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to close the case because the military uses the Grok chatbot in its operations.
The purchase of assets in traditional energy contradicts Musk's earlier stance. Ten years ago, he called burning fossil fuels 'the stupidest experiment in history.'