Elon Musk would like everyone to read the fine print.
On Thursday morning, the billionaire wrote on X that SpaceX has "not committed to leasing Colossus for years" to Anthropic, clarifying that the current AI compute arrangement is a 180-day lease, with 90-day mutual cancellation rights after that.
That does not contradict one of the most important revelations in SpaceX's S-1 — but it does sharpen the caveat around it.
Inside the sci-fi-ish 277-page financial disclosure document, SpaceX reported a $1.25 billion-a-month deal with Anthropic for access to compute from its Colossus data centers "through May 2029." The arrangement, if it lasted in full, could rake in more than $40 billion for SpaceX. The S-1 also noted that the "agreements may be terminated by either party upon 90 days' notice."
Musk's Thursday post added more color about what that means for SpaceX's side of the bargain: Anthropic may have agreed to pay through May 2029, but SpaceX is saying it has not committed to leasing out the compute for years.
For SpaceX, the deal was one of the flashiest potential revenue streams in the disclosure. It also mattered because SpaceX's IPO filing pitched investors on a company becoming much more than rockets and Starlink — with AI infrastructure as a major part of the story.
SpaceX has not committed to leasing Colossus for years, although it’s possible that may be what happens.
This is a 180 day lease with 90 day notice mutual cancellation thereafter. The short term was our request, not Anthropic’s.
We won’t leave them hanging and will provide a…
In Thursday's post, Musk made clear that Anthropic should not get too comfortable on his company's AI supercomputer. That is especially true if Musk's own AI-hungry empire — from xAI to Tesla's increasingly autonomy-focused business — needs the processing infrastructure itself.
"We won't leave them hanging and will provide a reasonable off-ramp," he wrote, "but if compute gets super tight I said we might need it back at some point."
SpaceX and Anthropic didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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Ben Shimkus is a reporter for the Business News desk. He writes about cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's also held staff writing positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU with a Master's in journalism in 2024. Email Ben at [email protected] or message him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41.
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