Musk Acknowledges Potential Revenue Decline for SpaceX from Anthropic Deal
SpaceX and Anthropic may terminate their contract for leasing computational capacity with a 90-day notice to the other party. Elon Musk stated that this condition could benefit Anthropic if AI computational resources become more available and cheaper.
Musk responded to a statement by venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya made on the All-In podcast. The investor suggested that, amid a shortage of computational capacity, SpaceX might exit the agreement and offer Anthropic a new contract at two to three times the current price.
According to Musk, the opposite scenario is also possible. If the supply of computational resources increases and prices drop, SpaceX risks losing part of its revenue. Anthropic already has agreements for computational capacity with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. The introduction of these resources could strengthen its position in negotiations with SpaceX.
As reported by Teslarati, SpaceX disclosed the deal's terms in documents related to its IPO in May. Anthropic committed to paying $1.25 billion per month for dedicated Colossus cluster capacity until May 2029. If the contract is fulfilled in full, the total payment amount will reach nearly $45 billion. Similar termination conditions are included in SpaceX's agreements with Google and Reflection AI.
Palihapitiya's scenario is based on the possibility that authorities in certain states may reduce tax incentives for data centers and slow the construction of new facilities. In Texas, the elected governor Gina Hinojosa has advocated for a moratorium on issuing permits for new data centers. Analysts at Deutsche Bank warned that the expansion of SpaceX's computational capacity in the state could be delayed.
