Elon Musk has publicly reversed his stance on Anthropic, calling the AI lab the current leader in artificial intelligence and promising not to use SpaceX’s infrastructure to harm the company. The remarks come just months after Anthropic signed a massive compute deal with Musk’s xAI unit, now merged with SpaceX, worth an estimated $40 billion over three years.
In a post on X on Thursday, Musk wrote, “I was clearly wrong about Anthropic,” referencing his September 2025 claim that “winning was never in the set of possible outcomes for Anthropic.” He added that the company’s latest model, Mythos/Fable, is the best available, and that Anthropic will likely release Mythos 2 soon.
A $40 Billion Bet on Trust
In May 2026, Anthropic signed a deal to purchase 300 megawatts of compute from SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center near Memphis, Tennessee. The agreement runs through May 2029 at a cost of $1.25 billion per month. Google also signed a similar deal, paying $920 million per month for SpaceX infrastructure through June 2029.
The arrangement places Anthropic’s core operations inside infrastructure owned by a direct competitor. Musk’s xAI develops its own models, including the Grok series. This has raised questions about whether Anthropic is exposing itself to competitive risk, including potential espionage or service disruption.
Musk addressed those concerns directly. “I would never cut them off in a way that hurt them badly, even as a competitor. That’s not my style,” he wrote. He cited Tesla’s 2014 patent pledge, the opening of Tesla’s Supercharger network, and SpaceX’s pricing policies for competing satellite systems as evidence of his approach.
Contractual Protections and Real Risks
Anthropic does not need to rely solely on Musk’s personal assurances. The deal almost certainly includes contractual protections against unilateral termination or service degradation. However, the proximity between the two companies creates other risks.
During his 2025 trial against OpenAI, Musk acknowledged that “generally AI companies distill other AI companies” — a process where one model maker sends prompts to a competitor’s model to learn how it works. In February 2026, Anthropic accused three Chinese companies of distilling Claude. While Anthropic and Google likely have safeguards against such activity on SpaceX’s servers, hosting the compute gives SpaceX greater visibility into Anthropic’s operations than most competitors would have.
Why This Deal Benefits Both Sides
For SpaceX, the arrangement is financially transformative. The $1.25 billion monthly payment from Anthropic alone represents a major revenue stream. Beyond that, SpaceX engineers gain experience building and supporting infrastructure for large-scale AI workloads, similar to Amazon Web Services’ approach with its customers.
For Anthropic, the deal provides guaranteed access to massive compute capacity at a time when demand for AI training and inference resources far exceeds supply. The company’s enterprise market share is already the largest in the industry, and Mythos/Fable has been widely praised as the most capable model available.
Still, the partnership carries inherent tension. Musk has a history of aggressive competition, including lawsuits against OpenAI. And while he insists he will not act against Anthropic, the structural incentives for SpaceX to learn from its customer are clear.
Conclusion
The Musk-Anthropic relationship is a case study in the complex dynamics of the AI industry, where competitors become customers and infrastructure providers hold significant leverage. For now, both sides appear to benefit. But as the three-year contract ages, the balance of power — and trust — will be tested.
FAQs
Q1: Why did Elon Musk change his opinion about Anthropic?
Musk admitted he was wrong about Anthropic’s potential, now calling it the clear leader in AI after the release of its Mythos/Fable model. The shift also coincides with a major business partnership between SpaceX and Anthropic.
Q2: What is the value of the SpaceX-Anthropic compute deal?
Anthropic agreed to pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, totaling approximately $40 billion over three years. Google also signed a deal worth $920 million per month.
Q3: Could Elon Musk cut off Anthropic’s access to SpaceX servers?
Musk has publicly stated he would not do so, calling it “not my style.” Additionally, the contract likely includes legal protections for Anthropic. However, hosting a competitor’s compute gives SpaceX unusual visibility into Anthropic’s operations.
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