SpaceX and Anthropic AI have announced a major compute deal granting Anthropic full access to the Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee, a supercomputer built by xAI and now operated by SpaceX. The announcement was made during Anthropic’s second annual “Code with Claude” developer event on Wednesday.

The agreement gives Anthropic access to over 220,000 Nvidia GPUs and more than 300 megawatts of compute capacity, immediately boosting its AI infrastructure to meet surging demand for its Claude models, especially Claude Code and Claude Opus.

In a statement, Anthropic said the deal will allow it to double rate limits for paid users of Claude Code on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, remove peak-hour usage reductions, and significantly increase API rate limits for Claude Opus. The company also revealed it has “expressed interest in partnering with SpaceX to develop multiple gigawatts of orbital AI compute capacity,” signaling long-term ambitions for space-based data centers.

Anthropic emphasized this partnership supplements existing agreements with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia, with those larger-scale commitments expected to come online in late 2026 or early 2027.

SpaceX confirmed that Colossus 1—featuring H100, H200, and GB200 Nvidia accelerators—was built in just 122 days and is one of the world’s largest AI supercomputers. The company noted that xAI has transitioned its training operations to Colossus 2, freeing up Colossus 1 for external partners.

The space and AI company framed the deal as part of its broader strategy to monetize underused compute capacity and position itself as a leading AI infrastructure provider, with potential future developments in orbital computing to address Earth’s power and cooling constraints.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk endorsed the deal on X, writing: “Same here. By way of background for those who care, I spent a lot of time last week with senior members of the Anthropic team to understand what they do to ensure Claude is good for humanity and was impressed. Everyone I met was highly competent and cared a great deal about doing the right thing. No one set off my evil detector. So long as they engage in critical self-examination, Claude will probably be good.”  

He added: “After that, I was ok leasing Colossus 1 to Anthropic, as SpaceXAI had already moved training to Colossus 2,” and reserved the right to reclaim compute if Anthropic’s AI ever harms humanity. Musk also noted SpaceX will offer compute to other AI firms under “fair terms and pricing,” similar to its satellite launch model.

Musk had previously criticized Anthropic, calling it “misanthropic” and its AI “evil,” and accused it of bias against Western civilization. This shift follows xAI’s merger with SpaceX earlier in 2026, forming “SpaceXAI,” which is reportedly preparing for an IPO.

The deal comes amid a legal battle between Anthropic and the Trump administration’s Department of Defense, which seeks unrestricted military use of Claude—something Anthropic has resisted on ethical grounds.

The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz during "Project Freedom," a U.S. military operation launched by President Donald Trump on Monday, to escort stranded commercial vessels through the strategic waterway, despite conflicting claims over whether the ceasefire remains intact. He has since announced a pause in the operation at the request of Pakistan.

Iran launched cruise missiles, drones, and deployed small attack boats targeting U.S. warships and commercial vessels, while U.S. forces responded by sinking seven Iranian small boats, intercepting drones and missiles, and guiding two U.S.-flagged merchant ships—including the Maersk-operated Alliance Fairfax—through the strait under naval protection.

Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense, and Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Tuesday a the Pentagon, that the ceasefire with Iran is still in effect, emphasizing that Iranian attacks—while frequent—have remained below the threshold for restarting full-scale combat. Hegseth declared, _"No, the ceasefire is not over,"_ and asserted that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz, calling its blockade "international extortion."

Caine confirmed Iran had attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times and fired at commercial vessels nine times since the April 7 ceasefire, but described the actions as "low-level harassment" and "below the threshold" of major combat. The U.S. established a mine-free corridor and an "enhanced security area" under an "umbrella" of air and naval assets, with CENTCOM reporting no U.S. or allied ships were hit.

Iran denies any successful U.S. transits, calling the claims "baseless," and accuses the U.S. of violating the ceasefire through "military adventurism." Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, labeled "Project Freedom" as "Project Deadlock" and warned the U.S. it has "not even begun" its response.

Meanwhile, the UAE reported repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks, intercepting 15 missiles and multiple drones over two days, with one strike injuring three people at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. The U.S. maintains the operation is defensive, temporary, and aimed at restoring freedom of navigation, with plans for partner nations to eventually assume security responsibilities.

Speaking to reporters at the White House Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the offensive phase of the Iran conflict, "Operation Epic Fury," was over, stating, _"We achieved the objectives of that operation."

Rubio described "Project Freedom" as a defensive, U.S.-led initiative to create a "protective bubble" for merchant vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. He said the operation aims to rescue nearly 23,000 civilians from 87 countries stranded for over two months, accusing Iran of "economic arson" by blocking the strait. Rubio stressed the mission was defensive: _"There's no shooting unless we're shot at first,"_ and noted multiple countries had requested U.S. intervention. He also revealed the U.S. and Gulf partners had drafted a UN resolution demanding Iran cease attacks, disclose mine locations, and stop imposing tolls, while expressing hope China would pressure Iran to de-escalate.

Tensions remain high as over 1,550 commercial ships carrying 22,500 mariners remain stranded in the Persian Gulf. Iran has tightened control over the Strait of Hormuz, with the IRGC warning ships to use only Iran-approved transit corridors or face a "decisive response." Rubio rejected any arrangement allowing Tehran to regulate passage or impose tolls, calling it "completely illegitimate" under international law.

Rubio maintained that economic and diplomatic pressure will continue until Iran reopens the strait and addresses its enriched uranium stockpile, noting, "They have a high pain threshold, but they don’t have an unlimited pain threshold."

On Israel and Lebanon, Rubio said a peace deal is "imminently achievable" but identified Hezbollah as the main obstacle, saying, "The problem with Israel and Lebanon is not Israel or Lebanon, it's Hezbollah." He claimed that Israel's actions in southern Lebanon target Hezbollah, not the Lebanese state, and that both nations desire peace.

U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are pursuing diplomacy, while the U.S. supports strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces to counter Hezbollah. Rubio warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would empower militant proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas, making the region "untouchable" to external intervention.

Few hours after Rubio's remarks, Trump announced he's pausing Project Freedom: "Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed."

Trump announced "Project Freedom" in a Truth Social post Sunday, stating the U.S. would begin guiding ships safely out of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday. He emphasized that countries whose vessels were stranded had requested U.S. assistance and said, _"For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business."_ He reiterated that the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports would remain until Iran fully complies with demands, including verifiably abandoning its nuclear weapons program, and claimed negotiations were "going actually along very well."

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 0700 UTC on Sunday (May 3), delivering 45 satellites -- including the primary payload CAS500-2, a South Korea’s 500 kg-class Earth observation spacecraft -- into Sun-synchronous orbit in a dedicated rideshare mission.

The Falcon 9 first-stage booster, B1071, completed its 33rd flight and landed at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) roughly 7.5 minutes after launch. The second stage meanwhile, continued spaceward and started payload deployment sequence about an hour after liftoff, beginning with CAS500-2 and followed by the other payloads over the next hour and a half.

CAS500-2, built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), is designed for high-resolution disaster monitoring and agricultural observation. The satellite captures imagery with a ground resolution of 0.5 meters in panchromatic mode and 2 meters in color mode.

South Korea's CAS500 ("Compact Advanced Satellite 500") program aims to operate a total of five satellites in low Earth orbit. CAS500-2 is the second satellite in the program, following CAS500-1 (launched in 2021) and preceding CAS500-3 (launched on South Korea’s Nuri rocket in late 2025).

The remaining 44 payloads were manifested by various international commercial and governmental operators, including: Planet Labs's three Pelican high-resolution Earth imaging satellites; Exolaunch's diverse batch of 21 CubeSats and 18 MicroSats from various global customers; Italian company Argotec's seven HEO MicroSats for the IRIDE emergency monitoring constellation; Loft Orbital and EarthDaily Analytics' six satellites for an AI-driven data constellation; Lynk Global's two Lynk Tower satellites for direct-to-device connectivity; True Anomaly's Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle; and Indian company GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite, featuring synthetic aperture radar and multi-spectral imaging.

CAS500-2 launch faced significant delays due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted its original 2022 launch plan on a Russian rocket