Market AnalysisMay 11, 20262 Min

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Anthropic Strike Major Compute Deal With Plans For Space-Based Expansion

AI startup Anthropic has signed a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to use the full compute capacity of the Colossus 1 data centre in Memphis, Tennessee. As part of the agreement, Anthropic will gain access to more than 300 megawatts of compute capacity. The company also said it has expressed interest in working with SpaceX on developing multiple gigawatts of compute capacity in space.

In a blog post, Anthropic said the partnership would significantly increase its computing resources. “This, along with our other recent compute deals, means that we’ve been able to increase our usage limits for Claude Code and the Claude API”.

Elon Musk’s Relationship With Anthropic

The partnership comes despite repeated criticism of Anthropic from Musk, who merged SpaceX with his competing AI startup xAI earlier this year. Musk has previously accused Anthropic of clashing with the US government and questioned the company’s direction.

He earlier said Anthropic was “doomed to become the opposite of its name,” adding that it could become “Misanthropic.”

He also asked once on X, “Is there a more hypocritical company than Anthropic?”. Earlier this year, Musk wrote on X that “Anthropic hates Western civilization.” However, his tone appeared to shift this month. On May 6, Musk said he had “spent a lot of time last week with senior members of the Anthropic team to understand what they do to ensure Claude is good for humanity and was impressed.”

“Everyone I met was highly competent and cared a great deal about doing the right thing. No one set off my evil detector,” Musk wrote on X, adding, “So long as they engage in critical self-examination, Claude will probably be good.”

SpaceXAI And Concerns Around Colossus Infrastructure

In a separate post on X, Musk said, “xAI will be dissolved as a separate company, so it will just be SpaceXAI, the AI products from SpaceX.”

xAI has been rapidly expanding its data infrastructure in Memphis as it competes against rivals including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. Colossus 1 is currently its largest facility.

During the development and operation of Colossus, xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, LLC, installed dozens of natural gas-burning turbines to power the site. The company said that federal permits were not required because the turbines were intended for temporary use. The turbines reportedly worsened air pollution issues in the Memphis area and triggered continued protests against xAI’s operations in the region.

About Anthropic

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives and researchers. The company is best known for its Claude family of AI models. It is currently in discussions with investors regarding a fundraising round that could value the company at $900 billion.

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