Anthropic Taps SpaceX for 300MW of Compute—Orbital Data Centers Next
Anthropic signed a deal with SpaceX for 300 megawatts of compute capacity at Colossus 1, doubling Claude Code rate limits and exploring orbital data centers.
- Anthropic will use all capacity at SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center, adding 300 megawatts of compute power.
- The deal doubles Claude Code rate limits and raises API caps for Claude Opus models.
- Anthropic expressed interest in partnering with SpaceX on orbital AI data centers.
Anthropic signed a deal with SpaceX to access the full computing power of the Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee. The agreement gives the Claude maker more than 300 megawatts of capacity across 220,000 Nvidia processors, including H100, H200, and next-generation GB200 accelerators, per NBC News.
The partnership comes as Anthropic faces surging demand for its AI coding tool, Claude Code. Chief Product Officer Ami Vora announced the deal at Anthropic’s developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, noting that the company is doubling the current 5-hour rate limit for developers on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, according to Business Insider.
Compute Constraints
Anthropic is growing faster than it planned. Chief Executive Dario Amodei said during the conference that the company is growing at an annualized rate of 80 times last year’s levels. The company had planned for growth up to a factor of 10.
“This is the first year that we have grown faster than the exponential,” Amodei said. “That is the reason we have had difficulties with compute.”
The SpaceX deal builds on Anthropic’s existing partnerships with Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. By adding SpaceX’s Colossus 1 facility, Anthropic gains access to one of the world’s largest AI data centers. SpaceX has been rapidly expanding its AI infrastructure ambitions, including the $119 billion Terafab announced in March.
Orbital Ambitions
The terrestrial deal is just the beginning. Anthropic said it has “expressed interest” in partnering with SpaceX to develop multiple gigawatts of orbital AI compute capacity. SpaceX announced plans in January to deploy up to 1 million satellites to serve as orbital data centers, per SpaceNews.
“The compute required to train and operate the next generation of these systems is outpacing what terrestrial power, land, and cooling can deliver on the timelines that matter,” SpaceX said in a statement.
SpaceX merged with xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, in February. The orbital data center project is a key driver behind SpaceX’s planned initial public offering, which is targeting a valuation between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion.
A Détente
The partnership represents a shift for Musk, who as recently as February called Anthropic’s Claude model “misanthropic and evil.” In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk said he spent time last week with Anthropic’s senior team and was impressed.
“Everyone I met was highly competent and cared a great deal about doing the right thing,” Musk wrote. “No one set off my evil detector.”
Anthropic’s Claude models have been at the center of recent debates about AI safety. The deal with SpaceX takes effect within the month.
