SpaceX filed for an IPO a week ago, and Elon Musk is already creating confusion.
Days before the reusable rocket maker is slated to start pitching its story to investors, Musk took to social network X (which is owned by SpaceX) late Wednesday to explain details of the company's recent partnership with competing AI startup Anthropic. His comment included a potentially material aspect about their deal that wasn't included in SpaceX's 300-plus page IPO filing.
Earlier this month, SpaceX said it was leasing unused compute capacity at its Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee to Anthropic. Last week's prospectus said that Anthropic agreed to pay SpaceX "$1.25 billion per month through May 2029, with capacity ramping in May and June 2026 at a reduced fee." The filing also noted, "The agreement may be terminated by either party upon 90 days' notice."
In his X post Wednesday night, Musk wrote, "SpaceX has not committed to leasing Colossus for years," and called the pact a "180 day lease with 90 day notice mutual cancellation thereafter." The prospectus, however, said nothing about the deal potentially ending in a matter of months.
Whether Anthropic is slated to pay SpaceX $15 billion a year for the next three years or will be spending substantially less over a much shorter period represents a major consideration for prospective investors. SpaceX's total revenue in 2025 was just $18.7 billion, and selling compute capacity out of its data center adds an entirely new revenue stream, while putting SpaceX in competition with so-called neocloud providers like Nebius
