Elon Musk’s abrupt partnership with AI lab Anthropic serves a dual purpose: it turns SpaceX’s underutilized data center capacity into revenue ahead of its expected June IPO—and positions Musk against his longtime rival, Sam Altman.
From Criticism to Collaboration in Three Months
Musk’s shift in stance is striking. Just three months ago, he publicly criticized Anthropic, calling it "misanthropic" in response to the company’s $380 billion post-money valuation announcement in February. (Anthropic’s valuation is now projected to exceed $900 billion.) Yet by last week, Musk expressed admiration after meeting with Anthropic’s leadership.
Solving Anthropic’s Compute Crisis
The deal addresses a critical bottleneck for Anthropic. At a developer conference on Wednesday, CEO Dario Amodei revealed that the company experienced "80x growth per year in revenue and usage" in Q1 2026—far outpacing its initial projections of 10x growth. This surge created severe compute constraints, leading to usage limits that frustrated customers.
SpaceX will now provide Anthropic with exclusive access to its Colossus 1 data center, delivering over 300 megawatts of new capacity—equivalent to more than 220,000 Nvidia GPUs—within the month. Anthropic’s xAI division, which operates on the separate Colossus 2 supercomputer, remains unaffected.
SpaceX also hinted at future collaboration, stating in a blog post: "As part of this agreement, Anthropic also expressed interest in partnering to develop multiple gigawatts of orbital AI compute capacity."
The Rivalry Behind the Deal
The agreement arrives amid Musk’s ongoing legal battle with OpenAI, the AI lab he co-founded—and Anthropic’s biggest competitor. Industry analyst Ben Pouladian summarized the dynamic on X: "Elon's enemy is Sam. Dario's enemy is Sam. Enemy of my enemy is a compute partner."
Financial Incentives for Both Sides
The partnership is mutually beneficial. Musk’s xAI has struggled with low demand relative to its infrastructure investments. According to PitchBook’s Harrison Rolfes, xAI’s Colossus 1 data center was built with capacity far exceeding Grok’s user growth in 2024. By leasing this idle capacity to Anthropic, SpaceX converts an expensive, underused asset into a high-margin revenue stream—just in time for its June S-1 filing.
For Anthropic, the deal provides immediate relief from compute shortages while avoiding costly write-downs on unused chip capacity. The arrangement also strengthens SpaceX’s financial position ahead of its public debut.
Potential Risks and Uncertainties
Musk’s willingness to partner with a competitor hinges on his own demand challenges. Reports indicate xAI utilizes only 11% of its massive chip inventory, though it remains unclear whether this stems from low demand, poor utilization, or both. Without similar constraints, Musk may have prioritized internal needs over leasing capacity to Anthropic.
The bottom line: Anthropic gains critical compute resources, while SpaceX secures a major customer—proving that even fierce rivals can find common ground in the AI arms race.
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