Elon Musk’s Change of Heart Towards Anthropic

Recently, users on X (formerly Twitter) raised concerns about Elon Musk’s intentions towards Anthropic, an AI lab that has been making waves in the industry. It appears that Musk’s sentiments have shifted, and he now seems to have a newfound appreciation for the company.

In a recent post on X, Musk praised Anthropic’s AI model, Mythos/Fable, stating that it is currently the leader in AI. He even went as far as to say that no other company has released a model as good as Mythos/Fable, and that Anthropic will undoubtedly have a new model ready soon.

Musk’s change of heart towards Anthropic is quite significant, especially considering his past statements about the company. In September 2025, Musk posted on X that Anthropic was unlikely to succeed, stating that ‘Winning was never in the set of possible outcomes for Anthropic.’ However, it appears that even at that time, Anthropic was already considered a winner, with a significant market share among enterprises.

So, what changed Musk’s mind? One reason could be Anthropic’s recent partnership with SpaceX, Musk’s own company. In May 2026, Anthropic signed a deal with xAI, a subsidiary of SpaceX, to purchase 300 megawatts of compute power from xAI’s Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee. The deal is worth $40 billion in revenue for SpaceX’s xAI unit, with Anthropic agreeing to pay $1.25 billion per month until May 2029.

This partnership is not the only reason for Musk’s change of heart, however. Google has also signed a similar deal with SpaceX to rent infrastructure from June 2029, worth $920 million per month. It seems that Musk’s company is reaping significant benefits from these partnerships, which may have contributed to his newfound appreciation for Anthropic.

Musk’s praise for Anthropic is not just limited to his X post. He also emphasized that he would never ‘cut off’ Anthropic in a way that would hurt the company, even as a competitor. He cited Tesla’s decision in 2014 to not initiate patent lawsuits against companies that use its technology in good faith, as an example of his ‘style.’ He also noted that Tesla has opened its Supercharger network and charging port design to competitors, and that SpaceX launches competing satellite systems without unfair terms.

However, some experts have pointed out that Musk’s past behavior suggests that he may not always stick to his ‘style.’ He has been known to use aggressive tactics against his rivals, including a lawsuit against OpenAI. Anthropic may not have to rely solely on Musk’s good intentions, as there would be contractual consequences if he were to shut down their infrastructure. The partnership between Anthropic and SpaceX also provides a mutual benefit, as SpaceX’s engineers may learn how to build and support Anthropic’s rapidly growing AI capabilities.

Another potential benefit of this partnership is the proximity it provides between Anthropic and SpaceX. As Musk acknowledged during his trial against OpenAI, AI ‘distilling’ is a common practice in the industry, where one model maker sets up fake accounts to send prompts to a competitor in order to learn how it works. Anthropic has already accused three Chinese model makers of doing this to Claude, and it is likely that they have safeguards in place to prevent SpaceX from doing the same.

For now, it seems that there is nothing but upside for Musk’s company in this partnership. However, as the three-year contract ages, it remains to be seen whether Anthropic and SpaceX will continue to benefit from each other’s collaboration.