The billionaire said SpaceX has only committed to a six-month lease of the Colossus AI training infrastructure, despite widespread assumptions that the deal extended into a multi-year supply arrangement.
“SpaceX has not committed to leasing Colossus for years, although it’s possible that may be what happens,” Musk said in a post on X.
Earlier reporting had indicated that Anthropic agreed to pay as much as $1.25 billion per month for access to computing capacity from the Colossus and Colossus II clusters in Memphis, Tennessee, with terms extending through May 2029.
Musk, however, pushed back on that framing, emphasising that the contract structure allows either side to exit quickly if necessary.
“The agreement is a 180-day lease with a mutual 90-day cancellation notice thereafter,” he said.
He added that the short duration was initiated by SpaceX itself, not the AI company, and was designed to preserve flexibility as demand for large-scale compute resources becomes increasingly volatile.
“The short term was our request, not Anthropic’s,” Musk wrote. “We won’t leave them hanging and will provide a reasonable off-ramp, but if compute gets super tight I said we might need it back at some point.”
Flexibility Over Long-Term Lock-In in AI Infrastructure
The clarification underscores how rapidly AI infrastructure deals are evolving, with major players prioritising flexibility over traditional long-term capacity contracts.
Musk also indicated that SpaceX is considering broader commercialisation of its computing assets as demand for AI training capacity continues to surge across the industry.
Last week, he said the company is exploring new partnerships in the sector.
“SpaceX was in discussions with other companies about ‘offering AI compute as a service at significant scale,’” he posted on X.
IPO Filing Highlights Heavy Losses in AI Segment
The discussion comes shortly after SpaceX’s IPO-related disclosures, which offered a rare look into the financial performance of its AI operations.
The filing showed that SpaceX’s AI segment posted an operating loss of about $2.5 billion in the March quarter, against revenue of $818 million.
The figures highlight the enormous capital intensity of competing in the high-performance computing market, where infrastructure buildouts and energy requirements continue to escalate.
Short-Term Deals Becoming the Norm in AI Compute
The Colossus arrangement reflects a broader shift in the artificial intelligence industry toward flexible compute agreements, as companies seek to avoid long-term lock-in amid rapidly changing hardware demands and pricing conditions.
Both SpaceX and Anthropic reportedly included termination clauses allowing either party to end the agreement with 90 days’ notice, reinforcing the short-cycle nature of the deal.
Neither company has publicly commented further on the arrangement.
As competition for AI computing power intensifies globally, analysts expect similar hybrid contracts—combining massive scale with short-term optionality—to become increasingly common across the sector.