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FinanceElon Musk acquires gas turbine firm APR Energy in $1B fossil-fuel pivot
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Elon Musk, known for clean energy initiatives like Tesla and solar power, has acquired APR Energy, a gas turbine company, for $1 billion. The deal, discovered through an FTC early termination notice, gives Musk over 1 GW of mobile gas and diesel turbine capacity. The move is driven by the energy demands of Musk's AI ventures, including the Grok chatbot and xAI's Colossus supercomputers in Memphis. The article notes that Tesla quietly removed 'sustainable' from its mission statement, signaling a shift as AI growth forces even clean-energy champions toward fossil fuels for rapid power deployment.
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Chris Katje Sun, July 19, 2026 at 3:31 PM PDT 4 min read
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When it comes to Elon Musk, the world's richest person is well-known for clean energy initiatives that include bets on electric vehicles, solar power, energy storage and more. These days, Musk is having to turn to fossil fuels to help power his AI ambitions.
Musk Acquires Gas Turbine Company
With growing energy demand needed for the Grok chatbot, which is owned by recently public SpaceX, Musk made an acquisition move.
The world's richest person spent $1 billion to buy APR Energy, a gas turbine company that has a fleet of mobile gas and diesel turbines, according to a report from Electrek.
APR Energy totals more than 1 GW of generation capacity. According to the report, the company uses trailer-mounted gas turbines and diesel and natural gas engines that can be installed in days — instead of the years it takes to build a traditional power plant.
Electrek highlights the quiet nature of the acquisition, which did not include a press release, but was rather found through a Federal Trade Commission early termination notice. The deal has already cleared.
Ditching Clean Energy
After years of being focused on solar power, electric vehicles and clean energy, the growth of xAI, Grok and other Musk-owned businesses has forced the entrepreneur to turn to fossil fuels.
In Memphis, gas turbines are running the Colossus and Colossus 2 supercomputers for xAI, according to the report. Those supercomputers help power Grok.
Tesla quietly dropped "sustainable" from its mission statement late last year.
The power crunch fueling the next stages of AI growth is pushing even clean-energy champions like Musk toward the fastest available source — in his case, gas.
Photo: bombermoon / Shutterstock
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Yahoo FinanceWestern
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Elon Musk Ditches Clean-Energy Image With Billion-Dollar Fossil-Fuel Acquisition