SpaceX expands AI compute business with Anthropic deal and xAI merger

SpaceX has deepened its role in artificial‑intelligence infrastructure by completing the merger of Elon Musk’s xAI into a new SpaceXAI unit and signing a multiyear contract with Anthropic for exclusive use of the Colossus 1 data centre. Anthropic will pay roughly $1.25 billion a month through 2029 – a total that could exceed $40 billion – to access the 300‑megawatt, 220 000‑GPU facility near Memphis, Tennessee. The agreement, together with similar deals with Google’s Alphabet and Reflection AI, is projected to generate more than $28 billion in annual revenue, dwarfing SpaceX’s launch and Starlink earnings for the current year.

SpaceX’s terrestrial AI spend in 2025 reached almost $18 billion, including $12.7 billion in capital expenditure to build and expand AI compute clusters that now provide about one gigawatt of capacity. Analysts at J.P. Morgan and other firms expect the company to scale this to roughly nine gigawatts by 2029 – comparable to four times the power output of the Hoover Dam. While the firm continues to market a long‑term “Starmind” satellite‑based AI compute constellation, analysts note that orbital data centres remain at least a decade away, pending mature Starship launch costs, satellite manufacturing, cooling, and communications breakthroughs.

Musk has also suggested that, if its AI ambitions succeed, SpaceX could eventually be valued at more than the rest of Earth’s economy. The statements follow the IPO that briefly made Musk the world’s first trillionaire and underline the company’s shift from a launch‑service focus to becoming a major AI‑infrastructure provider.