Anthropic to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion monthly for compute power in $15 billion annual deal

Anthropic will pay xAI $1.25 billion per month for compute | TechCrunch

Earlier this month, Anthropic surprised the AI world with a deal to buy 300 megawatts worth of compute -- securing the entire output of the Colossus 1 data center near Memphis, Tennessee. Turns out, compute at that scale isn't cheap. Anthropic will be paying xAI $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, with a discounted rate for the first two months as xAI completes its ramp-up. All told, the deal could bring xAI over $40 billion in revenue. Details of the transaction emerged from SpaceX's S-1 filing with the SEC. The deal, the company said, "allows us to monetize unused compute capacity in our infrastructure." The terms of the deal allow either side to terminate the contract with 90 days' notice. "We expect to enter into additional similar services contracts," the filing stated. The move has given xAI a hybrid stance in the AI market. Most players either build data centers for themselves or build data centers for others to use -- rarely both simultaneously. This emerging model, sometimes called a "neocloud," lets AI companies offset infrastructure costs by acting as a cloud provider when their own usage falls short of capacity. SpaceX argues the arrangement is a savvy use of resources. "We believe our dual monetization strategy provides multiple pathways to generate returns on invested capital," it wrote. But the subtext is hard to miss. xAI appears to have overbuilt its compute capacity and needed to find a way to monetize it ahead of a public offering. Usage of Grok -- xAI's flagship AI assistant -- has dropped significantly in recent months, freeing up servers that the company is now selling to one of its closest competitors.

SpaceX IPO Filing Reveals Anthropic Is Paying $15 Billion a Year to Access Its Data Centers

Anthropic has agreed to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May of 2029 for access to cloud computing infrastructure, a long-awaited US regulatory filing revealed on Wednesday. In other words, Anthropic will be sending a rival artificial intelligence lab roughly $15 billion a year, an extraordinary sum that demonstrates how access to compute has become one of the defining bottlenecks in the race to develop advanced artificial intelligence. Anthropic and SpaceX announced a deal earlier this month that gives the Claude developer access to GPUs at Colossus and Colossus II, a pair of data centers straddling Tennessee and Mississippi with more than one gigawatt of computing power. SpaceX had rushed to build the facilities for its xAI unit, which develops the Grok AI chatbot, but Musk said his company didn't need all of their computing capacity in the end. Terms of the deal had not been previously disclosed. Anthropic is paying an unspecified reduced fee for May and June before the $1.25 billion per month rate takes effect, SpaceX said in its S-1 regulatory filing. The eye-popping figure is a sign of how hungry Anthropic is for computing resources needed to power products like its increasingly popular AI coding tools. The company's revenue for the second quarter of 2026 is expected to exceed $10 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed the figures to WIRED. SpaceX did not immediately respond to WIRED's request for comment. SpaceX says it expects to "enter into additional similar services contracts" around its compute infrastructure and will continue using its data centers for itself. "We have sufficient capacity to provide compute for our own AI models, including support of our training and inference demands, and to satisfy the obligations under these agreements," the filing states. "We believe our dual monetization strategy provides multiple pathways to generate returns on invested capital." The filing details SpaceX's business opportunities and risks ahead of an initial public offering. SpaceX is pursuing the largest IPO in history, with hopes of raising about $75 billion at a valuation of $1.75 trillion. The company filed its initial paperwork confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, allowing time to make edits based on feedback from the regulator. The filing released on Wednesday is the cleaned-up version, though additional changes could come before it debuts on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker SPCX, which could reportedly come as soon as June 12. SpaceX, including X and xAI, generated nearly $4.7 billion in revenue and lost almost $4.3 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to the filing. Last year, SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in revenue but lost $4.9 billion after heavy spending to develop AI technologies and a bigger rocket, according to the filing. The S-1 is meant to help potential investors better understand the company and the challenges it faces. One widespread concern is the amount of power Musk holds over SpaceX and whether there are enough safeguards to hold the cofounder and CEO in check. Excerpts of the IPO filing seen by Reuters before it was published showed that the only person who can fire Musk is the billionaire himself. The documents also revealed that he will be able to maintain control of the company's board. In addition, he and his allies will have outsized voting power, allowing them to beat back attempts by activist shareholders to derail company endeavors. SpaceX also plans to exercise provisions of Texas law to fend off hostile takeovers and the removal of executives or board members.

Anthropic is paying $15 billion a year for access to Elon Musk's data centers

In a post on X, Musk said that SpaceX stands ready to offer similar deals to other AI companies that want to access the data centers. SpaceX is "offering AI compute as a service at significant scale," he said. SpaceX has been spending enormous amounts of money on AI since the company merged with Elon Musk's xAI earlier this year. According to the filing, the rocket company spent $12.7 billion in capital expenditures on AI in 2025, or about 61 percent of the total spend. It spent $7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared to just $1 billion on its space division. SpaceX's AI division lost $6.3 billion in operations on $3.2 billion in revenue in 2025, and lost $2.5 billion on $818 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2026.

Anthropic nears first quarterly profit, agrees to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion monthly for computing power

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 (Reuters) - Anthropic is closing in on its first quarterly operating profit, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as its sales eclipse the enormous costs to develop and deploy artificial intelligence. In recent fundraising materials, the San Francisco-based startup apprised investors that its June quarter sales could reach at least $10.9 billion, more than double its $4.8 ⁠billion in revenue for the just-ended March quarter, the person said. That will propel its second-quarter operating profit to an expected $559 million, said the person, on condition of anonymity. The Wall Street Journal reported the figures earlier on Wednesday. Anthropic's financials underscore how demand for the lab's Claude AI has jumped, as software developers use the technology to handle their computer programming and some enterprises deploy its top-shelf model Mythos to unearth vulnerabilities in their code. The profit is rare for an AI industry that is grappling with the technology's high costs. One such expense, in the ⁠form of AI's voracious demand for computing power, was also disclosed on Wednesday in the IPO filing of SpaceX, Elon Musk's rival space and AI company. SpaceX said Anthropic had agreed to pay it $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, in deals for compute capacity that now include both of SpaceX's ⁠AI training data center clusters, Colossus and Colossus II. Either Anthropic or SpaceX can terminate the agreements with 90 days' notice, and fees would be reduced during the capacity ramp-up this month and next, the ⁠filing said. Musk posted on X that SpaceX was in discussions with other companies about "offering AI compute as a service at significant scale," which would be a boost as its ⁠AI segment remains in the red. SpaceX's AI segment lost about $2.5 billion from operations in the March quarter, on segment revenue of $818 million, its IPO filing showed. Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco and Aditya Soni in Bangalore; Editing by Kenneth Li and Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Anthropic is paying SpaceX $15 billion per year

Why it matters: It's a massive bill but comes as Anthropic's revenue is taking off and the company is hampered by a lack of compute power. * It also is a significant boost to SpaceX, whose annual revenue is only around $18 billion per year. Driving the news: Anthropic and SpaceX announced their deal last month, but did not initially provide financial details. * SpaceX announced the monthly payments as part of its filing for an initial public offering, released Wednesday. It said the payments would be reduced for May and June as the deal ramps up. * Anthropic also announced moments before the filing became public that it was expanding beyond SpaceX's Colossus 1 facility to Colossus 2 as well. * "We're expanding our partnership with SpaceX, and will be scaling up on (Nvidia) GB200 capacity in Colossus 2 throughout June," Anthropic co-founder and chief compute officer Tom Brown said on X. SpaceX isn't done leasing out computing either. * "We expect to enter into additional similar services contracts," it said in the filing. "We have sufficient capacity to provide compute for our own AI models, including support of our training and inference demands, and to satisfy the obligations under these agreements. " Yes, but: Either Anthropic or SpaceX can exit the deal with 90 days' notice, per the filing.

Anthropic to pay xAI $1.25 billion monthly for massive AI compute

Anthropic has signed a deal to acquire 300 megawatts of compute from the Colossus 1 data center near Memphis, Tennessee, in a move that could significantly impact both companies. Anthropic will pay xAI $1.25 billion per month until May 2029, with a discounted rate for the first two months as xAI ramps up its services. The total revenue from this agreement for xAI could exceed $40 billion. The transaction details were revealed in SpaceX's S-1 filing with the SEC. SpaceX stated the deal "allows us to monetize unused compute capacity in our infrastructure." The contract includes a clause that permits either party to terminate the agreement with 90 days' notice. SpaceX also indicated expectations for entering into more similar service contracts in the future, suggesting a broader initiative within the AI landscape. Notably, this deal positions xAI as a hybrid player in the AI market, functioning both as a provider and consumer of data center capabilities. This hybrid model, referred to as "neocloud," enables AI firms to lessen infrastructure costs by serving as cloud providers during off-peak usage times. SpaceX characterized the arrangement as an efficient use of resources, stating, "We believe our dual monetization strategy provides multiple pathways to generate returns on invested capital." However, the deal also signals potential overcapacity issues within xAI, with the company needing to monetize excess compute resources prior to a public offering. Usage of Grok, xAI's flagship AI assistant, has reportedly declined significantly in recent months, allowing the company to sell excess capacity to a direct competitor.

SpaceX's $45 Billion Anthropic Deal Could Fund Its AI Buildout Three Times Over

SpaceX revealed that it entered into cloud services agreements with Anthropic in May 2026, under which the AI startup will pay $1.25 billion per month for access to compute capacity across the company's Colossus and Colossus II AI data center campuses. The agreements run through May 2029, with capacity ramping during the first two months. At a full run rate, that's roughly $15 billion in annual revenue and as much as $45 billion over three years -- enough to cover the roughly $13 billion SpaceX has directed toward AI infrastructure and data centers more than three times over. One Customer, A $45 Billion Commitment The scale of the agreement becomes more striking when viewed against SpaceX's existing AI business. The company's IPO filing showed its AI segment generated $818 million of revenue in the March quarter while posting an operating loss of approximately $2.5 billion. By comparison, Anthropic's contract implies roughly $3.75 billion of quarterly revenue at full run rate, more than four times the AI division's most recently reported quarterly sales. For investors trying to determine whether Musk's AI ambitions can eventually generate meaningful returns, the Anthropic agreement offers one of the clearest signals yet that demand for large-scale compute capacity exists. "We believe our dual monetization strategy provides multiple pathways to generate returns on invested capital," SpaceX said in the filing. The company also disclosed that it expects to enter into additional similar services contracts in the future. Why The Math Matters The Anthropic deal also helps put SpaceX's aggressive capital spending into perspective. Investors have been trying to understand why the company poured billions into AI infrastructure despite already operating capital-intensive launch and satellite businesses. The filing makes clear that AI is now a core pillar of SpaceX's strategy alongside its Space and Connectivity segments. More importantly, Anthropic's commitment suggests SpaceX may already be finding a way to monetize those investments at scale. At roughly $15 billion per year, a single customer could theoretically generate annual revenue exceeding the amount SpaceX has reportedly directed toward AI infrastructure buildout. Viewed through that lens, the agreement looks less like a routine customer contract and more like an early validation of Musk's bet that AI infrastructure can become a major business in its own right. And if SpaceX succeeds in signing additional customers, Anthropic's deal may be remembered as the contract that helped de-risk one of the company's most ambitious expansion efforts. Photo: Wirestock Creators on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Elon Musk Says SpaceX's Anthropic Deal Shows It Can Offer AI Compute As A Service At Scale: 'We Are In Di

Elon Musk said on Wednesday that SpaceX is now selling artificial intelligence computing power at "significant scale," pointing to an expanded agreement that gives Anthropic access to the company's Colossus data center capacity as the space venture prepares for a public listing. Musk Says SpaceX Is Selling AI Compute "As the recently expanded partnership with @AnthropicAI demonstrates, @SpaceX is offering AI compute as a service at significant scale," Musk wrote on X. "We are in discussions with other companies to do the same. Over time, especially with orbital data centers, we expect to serve AI at extremely high scale." Anthropic Deal Could Lift AI Segment SpaceX said in the filing that it expects more agreements to sell AI compute to outside customers. "We expect to enter into additional similar services contracts," the company said, adding, "We have sufficient capacity to provide compute for our own AI models, including support of our training and inference demands, and to satisfy the obligations under these agreements." Reuters reported that the Anthropic deal could boost SpaceX's AI segment, which remains unprofitable. The unit lost about $2.5 billion from operations in the March quarter on revenue of $818 million, the IPO filing showed. Orbital Data Centers Shape AI Strategy Photo: Frederic Legrand - COMEO from Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Anthropic On the Cusp of a Profitable Quarter; Commits $40bn to xAI for Compute Power

Anthropic shared its numbers with existing investors as part of a funding round but the timing makes us wonder whether it has anything to do with an OpenAI IPO coming up The era of AI-led IPOs is close and with it the companies lining up their public offerings are going to town sharing news that would likely bolster their share prices. As reports of OpenAI advancing its offerings gather momentum in the media, Anthropic has told its investors that its revenues will double to around $10.9 billion in the second quarter, delivery an operating profit for the first time. A report published by the Wall Street Journal notes that this would be a major milestone for the AI startup, which is involved in a no-holds barred battle for supremacy with OpenAI. Analysts believe that with the first reports of quarterly operating profits, the company can look to put considerable distance with its closest rival. However, the report also notes that Anthropic may not remain profitable through the year due to the large compute costs that it is scheduled to incur. And it turns out that the company will be paying Elon Musk's xAI $1.25 billion a month for compute power, a deal that would ensure the same payout all the way till May of 2029. The company shared these financials recently with the investors as part of a funding round. Over the past year, Anthropic seems to have dialled the right numbers with its Claude chatbot gaining in popularity over ChatGPT in the enterprise space. Additionally, they also put in efforts to diversify by announcing new tools and business offerings for small enterprises and law firms. That the story around Anthropic's profitability should break the same day as reports of OpenAI seeking to file their IPO sooner than earlier expected can hardly be a coincidence. In recent times, both companies have been involved in a game of one upmanship that saw similar products and services coming from one another in quick succession. Another bit of news that surprised everyone was the timing of Anthropic's decision to sign a deal with Musk's xAI to buy 300 megawatts of compute, which formed the entire output of the Colossus 1 datacentre near Memphis in Tennessee. Now, we got to know through SpaceX's IPO filing that it would make $40 billion in revenues. Why this too didn't sound like a coincidence was based on the fact that reports of this deal surfaced around the same time that Elon Musk's $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman and his team was coming up for hearing in a California court. What's that they say about an enemy's enemy being a friend? Did Dario Amodei and Musk shake hands? We may never know. According to the filing, SpaceX said the deal allowed them to monetise unused compute capacity in their infrastructure. The terms of the dal also allow either side to terminate the contract with 90 days' notice. "We expect to enter into additional similar services contracts," the filing said. Does this mean there's more on the anvil with Anthropic or is Musk chasing other compute hungry companies?

Anthropic Signs Billion-Dollar xAI Deal for AI Compute Power

Anthropic struck a multi-billion-dollar pact with Elon Musk's xAI to acquire computing infrastructure through 2029. According to various reports, Anthropic will pay a monthly fee of nearly $1.25 billion, which translates to roughly $40 billion in contract value over the coming years. Under this deal, Anthropic will gain access to xAI's extensive data center infrastructure and GPU cluster to develop high-quality AI models like Claude. It is one of those rare instances where we see that access to computational resources is becoming as crucial in the world of AI as the development of AI models itself.

Anthropic nears first quarterly profit, agrees to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion monthly for computing power

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 (Reuters) - Anthropic is closing in on its first quarterly operating profit, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as its sales eclipse the enormous costs to develop and deploy artificial intelligence. In recent fundraising materials, the San Francisco-based startup apprised investors that its June quarter sales could reach at least $10.9 billion, more than double its $4.8 billion in revenue for the just-ended March quarter, the person said. That will propel its second-quarter operating profit to an expected $559 million, said the person, on condition of anonymity. The Wall Street Journal reported the figures earlier on Wednesday. Anthropic's financials underscore how demand for the lab's Claude AI has jumped, as software developers use the technology to handle their computer programming and some enterprises deploy its top-shelf model Mythos to unearth vulnerabilities in their code. The profit is rare for an AI industry that is grappling with the technology's high costs. One such expense, in the form of AI's voracious demand for computing power, was also disclosed on Wednesday in the IPO filing of SpaceX, Elon Musk's rival space and AI company. SpaceX said Anthropic had agreed to pay it $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, in deals for compute capacity that now include both of SpaceX's AI training data center clusters, Colossus and Colossus II. Either Anthropic or SpaceX can terminate the agreements with 90 days' notice, and fees would be reduced during the capacity ramp-up this month and next, the filing said. Musk posted on X that SpaceX was in discussions with other companies about "offering AI compute as a service at significant scale," which would be a boost as its AI segment remains in the red. SpaceX's AI segment lost about $2.5 billion from operations in the March quarter, on segment revenue of $818 million, its IPO filing showed. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco and Aditya Soni in Bangalore; Editing by Kenneth Li and Chris Reese)

Anthropic to pay Elon Musk's xAI billions until 2029: Here is why

The contract is said to allow either company to end the agreement with a 90-day notice. Elon Musk's AI company xAI has landed a massive deal with rival AI startup Anthropic that could bring in more than $40 billion in revenue over the next few years. The details were revealed in a recent filing submitted by SpaceX to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Anthropic has agreed to buy 300 megawatts worth of AI computing power from xAI's Colossus 1 data center near Memphis. As per filing, Anthropic will pay xAI around $1.25 billion every month until May 2029, with a discounted rate during the first two months while xAI finishes scaling up the facility, reports TechCrunch. The agreement gives Anthropic access to a huge amount of computing infrastructure, which is becoming increasingly important in the AI industry. Also read: ChatGPT solves 80 year old math problem that puzzled researchers for years In the filing, SpaceX said the deal 'allows us to monetise unused compute capacity in our infrastructure.' The company also noted, 'We expect to enter into additional similar services contracts.' The deal highlights an interesting shift in the AI market. Usually, companies either build data centers for their own AI systems or operate them as cloud services for other firms. However, xAI appears to be doing both at the same time. This approach is often referred to as a 'neocloud' model, where companies rent out extra computing power whenever they are not fully using it themselves. Also read: OpenAI introduces Guaranteed Capacity offering: What is it and what it promises SpaceX defended the strategy in the filing, saying, 'We believe our dual monetisation strategy provides multiple pathways to generate returns on invested capital.' At the same time, the move has also raised questions about xAI's current computing needs. Reports suggest that usage of Grok, xAI's AI chatbot, has declined in recent months. This may have left the company with more unused servers than expected. The contract is said to allow either company to end the agreement with a 90-day notice.