Technology and Science · 06 May, 2026 · 2 min read
Anthropic Signs Agreement With Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Colossus 1 Compute in Memphis
Anthropic will access all compute capacity at SpaceX's Colossus 1 data center in Memphis. Claude Code and API usage limits substantially increased under the deal.
Who benefits operationally: consumer capacity vs enterprise internal workflows.
3 of 5 outlets skipped it: anthropic said it’s doubling five-hour limits for Pro/Max/Team..
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Same story, two versions
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Teslarati
“Within the month, Anthropic will begin using 100 percent of Colossus 1’s compute, directly expanding capacity for Claude Pro and Max subscribers”Read the original ↗
TestingCatalog
“giving employees across the aerospace company broader access to AI tools”Read the original ↗
Some outlets stress end-user throttling relief; others frame internal enterprise access.
Colossus 1 Compute Deal
Anthropic has signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to use the full computing power of SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee, with the companies saying it will deliver 300 megawatts of new capacity within a month.
“will use the full computing power of the facility in Memphis, Tennessee”
The deal also gives Anthropic access to more than 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs at the facility, according to the announcement.
Anthropic said the expanded compute will be used to boost Claude Pro and Claude Max capacity, while also supporting higher usage for Claude Code and Claude API.
In a statement on X, Musk wrote, “No one set off my evil detector,” as he described spending time with Anthropic leaders last week.
Claude Limits Raised
As part of the partnership, Anthropic said it would double Claude Code’s 5-hour rate limits for paid plans and remove peak-hour usage cap reductions for Pro and Max accounts.
Al Jazeera also reported that Anthropic was “doubling Claude Code’s rate limits for its paid plans,” while removing peak-hour usage caps for Pro and Max accounts and increasing the volume of requests developers can make to its Claude Opus models.
The Reuters account of the same announcement said Anthropic would “substantially increase” its computing capacity and that the deal would help ease capacity constraints tied to demand for Claude Code.
Anthropic also framed the compute expansion alongside a new Claude AI feature called “dreaming,” which it said is available as a research preview.
Orbital Ambitions and Courtroom Context
Beyond Colossus 1, Anthropic said it is interested in working with SpaceX to develop multiple gigawatts of space-based orbital data centers, aligning with Musk’s stated goals for space-based computing.
“interested in working with SpaceX to develop multiple gigawatts of space-based orbital data centres”
Al Jazeera reported that the arrangement comes as Musk is battling OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in court, and it quoted Musk’s “No one set off my evil detector” line in the context of his broader AI disputes.
Reuters similarly tied the deal to Anthropic’s push to expand AI coding capacity, describing it as momentum for Claude Code growth while SpaceX looks to sell investors on its AI ambitions.
The Reuters report also noted that Anthropic unveiled “dreaming” at a developer day in San Francisco, positioning the compute boost alongside new product capabilities.