SpaceX’s S-1 filing for its initial public offering revealed that Anthropic will pay Elon Musk’s xAI roughly $1.25 billion per month — about $15 billion a year, and potentially over $45 billion in total — through May 2029 for access to the Colossus supercomputing infrastructure near Memphis, Tennessee. The disclosure underscores how AI’s compute race is reshaping the industry’s economics.
The Deal
- $1.25 billion/month from Anthropic, with a discounted first two months
- Roughly $15bn a year; over $40-45bn across the term
- Runs through May 2029; either side can exit on 90 days’ notice
- Anthropic secured the full output of Colossus 1 (~300MW) and expanded to Colossus 2
Why The Filing Mattered
- Terms emerged from SpaceX’s SEC S-1 ahead of its IPO
- xAI appears to have overbuilt capacity and is monetising it
- The contract alone could fund a large chunk of xAI’s buildout
Why It Matters
- Shows the staggering capital intensity of frontier-AI compute
- Rival labs renting each other’s data centres is a new normal
- Anthropic is also reportedly in talks with Microsoft for Maia chips
- Feeds the debate over whether AI economics can support pending IPOs
What To Watch
- SpaceX IPO pricing and valuation
- Anthropic’s revenue and profitability trajectory
- Whether 90-day exit clauses get triggered as cheaper compute emerges
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