SpaceX IPO Filing Reveals Anthropic Is Paying $15 Billion a Year to Access Its Data Centers

SpaceX’s S-1 IPO filing revealed that Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.25 billion monthly—beginning May 2029—for access to SpaceX’s Colossus and Colossus II data centers in Tennessee and Mississippi. The arrangement, announced earlier this month, grants Anthropic access to over one gigawatt of GPU-powered computing, a critical resource for training advanced AI models like Claude. SpaceX built the facilities for its xAI division, which develops the Grok AI chatbot, but initially overestimated demand, leaving excess capacity for third-party contracts. The $15 billion annual fee underscores the growing financial stakes in AI infrastructure, as Anthropic races to scale its offerings, including AI coding tools. The company expects its second-quarter 2026 revenue to surpass $10 billion, signaling aggressive growth. SpaceX’s filing also noted a reduced fee for May and June before the full rate takes effect, though exact terms were not disclosed. SpaceX plans to expand its compute services, positioning its data centers as a dual-revenue stream for AI training and inference demands. The company stated it has sufficient capacity to support its own AI projects, including those for xAI, while fulfilling external contracts. This strategy aligns with SpaceX’s broader IPO ambitions, targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation and raising up to $75 billion, with a potential Nasdaq debut as early as June 12 under the ticker SPCX. Financial disclosures showed SpaceX, including X and xAI, generated nearly $4.7 billion in revenue but lost $4.3 billion in Q1 2024, continuing a trend of heavy AI and rocket development investments. Last year, revenue hit $18.7 billion, though losses widened to $4.9 billion due to capital expenditures. The filing also raised investor concerns about Elon Musk’s centralized control, as only he can terminate his own employment under SpaceX’s governance structure. Anthropic confirmed the payment figures to WIRED, while SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. The disclosure marks a pivotal moment in AI’s infrastructure race, where access to high-performance computing dictates competitive advantage. SpaceX’s IPO filing further highlights its pivot toward monetizing AI-related assets beyond traditional aerospace operations.