Boom Supersonic pivots jet engine tech to power AI data centers with 42 MW turbine

Boom Supersonic Tackles AI Power Crisis with Jet Engine Technology

Boom Supersonic has made an unexpected pivot into the datacenter power business, adapting its supersonic jet engine technology to address the mounting energy demands of AI infrastructure. The Denver-based company announced it secured $300 million in funding and landed its first major customer, Crusoe, for a substantial 1.21 GW order of its newly developed Superpower turbine 1

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. The move comes as AI data centers face severe power constraints, with projections showing they will become the single largest consumer of electricity in the United States by 2035 3

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From Supersonic Flight Goals to Power Generation

The origin story reads like a Silicon Valley fable. CEO Blake Scholl was scrolling on X when he noticed repeated posts about the power crisis hitting AI data centers. After texting OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to confirm the severity of the situation, Scholl discovered his engineering team had already outlined plans to adapt the company's Symphony jet engine into a stationary power turbine 2

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. Within approximately three months, Boom Supersonic had transformed this concept into a signed deal for 1.21 gigawatts and begun manufacturing its first turbogenerator 4

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The 42 MW Superpower turbine shares 80% of its components with the Symphony supersonic engine, originally designed to power the Overture airliner at speeds up to Mach 1.7 at 60,000 feet 1

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. The key modification replaces the turbofan used for thrust with additional compressor stages and adds a free power turbine to generate electricity 3

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Technical Advantages for AI Data Centers

The Superpower turbine delivers distinct advantages tailored to power AI data centers. It operates at full 42 MW capacity with 39% efficiency at ambient temperatures up to 110°F (43°C), significantly higher than contemporary designs whose output drops around 86°F (30°C) 1

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. This waterless operation addresses growing concerns about datacenter water usage, though server cooling towers still require water 1

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Blake Scholl explained that supersonic jet engine technology runs continuously at extreme thermal loads, exactly what datacenters need for reliable power generation 2

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. The turbine runs on natural gas, with diesel fuel as an emergency backup, and occupies a volume no larger than a shipping container 3

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. Installation takes approximately two weeks once foundations are laid 3

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Crusoe AI Order and Production Timeline

Crusoe ordered 29 units from Boom Supersonic, with the first delivery expected in 2027 1

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. The company plans to deliver 200 MW worth of turbines by 2027, scale to 1 GW in 2028, and reach 2 GW by 2029 1

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. Boom is constructing a Superpower Superfactory in Denver, Colorado, and has ordered production equipment to support 2 GW per year capacity, aiming for more than 4 GW annually by 2030 2

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. The company claims a backlog exceeding $1.25 billion in orders 4

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Funding for Supersonic Airliner and Market Challenges

This pivot creates a critical revenue stream that addresses Boom's funding challenges. The company successfully flew its XB-1 demonstrator past the sound barrier in January, but scaling to commercial production of the Overture supersonic airliner requires substantial capital 4

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. Boom states that profitability from Superpower will fund "the remainder of the aircraft program," creating what it calls a self-funded path to both the turbine business and supersonic flight 1

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. The company positions AI data centers as a giant test bed where Symphony engine cores will run for hundreds of thousands of hours in real-world conditions 1

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However, Boom enters a market with severe supply constraints. Major turbine manufacturers like GE Vernova and Siemens Energy currently quote wait times of five to seven years for new orders due to pandemic-era supply chain damage, material shortages, and limited global manufacturing capacity 4

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. The company hasn't explained how it will avoid these bottlenecks despite having no prior turbine manufacturing experience 4

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. The deal reflects the desperation within the AI industry, as tech companies are projected to spend roughly $400 billion on AI infrastructure this year, with Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft collectively taking on more than $121 billion in new debt over the past year 4

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