ANTHROPIC X SPACEX
Anthropic just made a deal with its biggest critic
Claude users have hit their limit... literally. Paid subscribers are frequently running out of tokens mid-conversation.
Fortunately, Anthropic has found a fix. Weirdly, it involves Elon Musk.
Let’s break it down:
Last week, Anthropic partnered with SpaceXAI, the newly merged company combining SpaceX and xAI. This deal gives Anthropic access to compute capacity at Musk’s Colossus 1 data center, an AI supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee. The first goal of this collab? Addressing Claude usage limits.
This deal may sound like business as usual, but the backstory makes it a bit more interesting.
In the not-so-distant past, Musk was a vocal critic of Anthropic, stating that the company hated Western civilisation. (This was shortly after CEO Dario Amodei declined to work with the US Department of Defense.)
Fast forward a few months and Musk is striking a deal with his former nemesis.
So how did we get here?
From insult to infrastructure:
Past: In February, Musk heavily criticized Anthropic, calling the company “misanthropic” and hypocritical.
Present: On May 6th, SpaceXAI gave Anthropic access to more than 300 megawatts of new capacity.
Future: The two entities expressed interest in working together to put data centers in space.
It’s complicated
If it seems like AI players are switching alliances faster than this season’s Survivor contestants, you might be right. But each party has a method to their madness.
SpaceXAI is racing toward an IPO this fall, which is expected to be the largest in corporate history. Meanwhile, Anthropic continues to build its global network, including a multibillion-dollar Amazon agreement throughout Europe and Asia.
Not to mention, the companies’ active feuds may have helped them leave their differences behind. Musk is currently fighting OpenAI in federal court, while Anthropic remains at odds with the Trump administration.
Today's rival is tomorrow's vendor. Welcome to AI in 2026!
As the ancient proverb goes: the enemy of my enemy has a very good data center. - TL