Anthropic Secures Compute Power From Controversial SpaceX Facility

In a surprising development, AI startup Anthropic has announced a deal to lease all of SpaceX’s Colossus data center capacity. This move provides much-needed compute resources for Anthropic while raising concerns about the environmental impact of the facility.

The Colossus data center in Memphis, Tennessee, was built by xAI (Elon Musk’s AI company) and has faced criticism for its initial operation without proper environmental permits. Reports indicate that the gas turbines powering the facility have contributed to air pollution and increased hospital admissions for respiratory issues.

While Anthropic will use Colossus 1, SpaceX/xAI will retain their larger Colossus 2 data center for their own AI development efforts, including Grok models.

Mixed Signals from xAI

The announcement comes as xAI faces challenges. The company recently deprecated several Grok models with just two weeks’ notice, leaving users scrambling to migrate. This abrupt change raises questions about the stability of xAI’s platform and its commitment to developers.

Furthermore, Elon Musk has reportedly shifted his view on Anthropic from calling them “misanthropic” to expressing approval after meeting with their team last week.

As Musk stated in a tweet: “After that, I was ok leasing Colossus 1 to Anthropic, as SpaceXAI had already moved training to Colossus 2.” He added that the compute can be reclaimed if the AI engages in actions harmful to humanity – a decision presumably made by himself.