Elon Musk Shrugs Off Reports That Anthropic May Walk Away From SpaceX Compute Deal
Elon Musk is signaling that SpaceX is not worried about the possibility of Anthropic ending its massive compute agreement sooner than expected. In fact, Musk appears to believe the situation may move in the opposite direction.
According to details shared from a recent meeting between Anthropic executives and sell-side analysts, the AI company has reportedly indicated that it does not plan to extend its compute contract with SpaceX beyond Q2 2027. If that happens, it would mark a major shift for one of the most valuable AI infrastructure agreements currently tied to SpaceX.
The deal is significant because Anthropic is expected to pay SpaceX around $3.1 billion per month starting in December 2026 for access to compute capacity. That level of spending would make the agreement a major revenue driver for SpaceX, with Anthropic reportedly accounting for nearly one-third of SpaceX’s revenue in Q3 2026. Through fiscal year 2029, the contract could be worth as much as $120.5 billion in total.
Despite the scale of the deal, Musk’s response was calm and direct. He said SpaceX would be happy to take the compute capacity back if needed, adding that it would be “no problem.” However, he also suggested that he believes the opposite will happen, implying that Anthropic may ultimately need more compute rather than less.
The comment highlights the growing tension in the artificial intelligence infrastructure market, where demand for advanced compute power continues to rise. AI companies are racing to secure data center capacity, GPUs, power, and networking resources as large language models and next-generation AI systems become increasingly expensive to train and run.
SpaceX is also rapidly expanding its compute footprint. The company is expected to finish 2026 with around 2.5 GW to 3 GW of capacity. By the end of 2027, it plans to add another 13 GW, potentially bringing total capacity close to 20 GW. That expansion will not come cheap. SpaceX’s compute-related capital spending for 2027 alone is projected to reach about $390 billion, based on an estimated cost of $30 billion per GW.
The timing of Anthropic’s reported decision is especially interesting because AI compute availability remains one of the biggest bottlenecks in the industry. Some investors have argued that if compute becomes even more scarce, SpaceX could gain pricing power and renegotiate major contracts at much higher rates. Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya recently suggested that SpaceX could theoretically give Anthropic notice, reclaim capacity, and raise prices by two to three times if market conditions tightened further.
Now, however, Anthropic appears to be the party considering a move away from the contract, at least based on the latest analyst discussions. Whether this reflects confidence in alternative compute suppliers, changing internal plans, cost discipline, or a negotiating strategy remains unclear.
Even if Anthropic does not extend the agreement, SpaceX is not without other major compute customers. The company also has a separate deal with Google worth around $920 million per month. That agreement reportedly includes access to 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, along with CPUs, memory, and other related hardware components.
For SpaceX, the bigger picture remains the same: compute infrastructure is becoming a central business opportunity as AI companies compete for the resources needed to train and deploy advanced models. For Anthropic, the decision may come down to whether it can secure enough capacity elsewhere at better terms.
Musk’s relaxed response suggests he believes SpaceX’s compute resources will remain in high demand, with or without Anthropic’s long-term commitment. As the AI infrastructure race accelerates, the real question may not be whether SpaceX can replace demand, but how much more valuable its compute capacity becomes if supply continues to tighten.
