The supercomputer “Project Colossus”, which Elon Musk calls the “gigafactory of computing”, is on view in Memphis, Tennessee, USA on August 22, 2024.
Karen Palfer Vogt | Reuters
space x has signed a major computing power deal with Reflection AI, making the open source artificial intelligence startup the latest outside company to tap into Elon Musk’s Colossus infrastructure.
Under this agreement, Reflection will be immediately accessible. Nvidia The company has agreed to pay SpaceX $150 million a month from July 1, 2026 to 2029 for the GB300, a top-of-the-line AI chip used to train and run advanced models, according to documents seen by CNBC.
If the agreement continues until the end of its term, the total payment will be approximately $6.3 billion.
Either company can terminate the agreement after the first three months with 90 days’ notice.
The deal shows how SpaceX is leveraging its massive data center buildup after a record initial public offering. The company built Colossus to power Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot and ChatGPT rival. Currently, SpaceX uses its infrastructure to sell computing power to outside AI companies.
SpaceX already has a computing power deal with Anthropic. google And Musk’s company has now acquired Cursor. Reflection adds a strategically distinct customer to its roster: an AI lab focused on open source models, at a time when governments and businesses are reconsidering their reliance on closed AI systems.
The timing is remarkable. Open source AI has gained momentum since Anthropic cut off access to Fable and Mythos, raising questions about the risks of relying on closed-model providers for critical work. This episode made a strong case for open model companies to allow their customers to inspect, customize, and run their models in greater detail.
Reflection is leaning directly into that pitch, as the startup, last valued at $25 billion, seeks to build an American open source AI model that can compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google’s Frontier Systems while offering governments and businesses more flexibility than closed systems.
“Recent events highlight how important open source is to the AI ecosystem, as more countries and companies recognize the risks and costs associated with relying solely on closed models,” a Reflection spokesperson said in a statement.
Reflection said the agreement will give it additional computing power, or computing power, to accelerate what it calls “America’s open intelligence.”
The startup has not yet released an open source model for Public Frontier, but it is gaining momentum with government and national security customers. The company is collaborating with the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission and is participating in the Department of Defense’s broader AI efforts.
For SpaceX, the deal is another sign that computing itself has become a strategic currency in the AI race. Access to advanced Nvidia chips remains one of the biggest constraints for companies looking to train and deliver frontier models. Opening Colossus to external customers puts the company on par with cloud providers and AI infrastructure companies that are competing to sell the power of scarce graphics processing units.
It also gives SpaceX another way to legitimize its growing AI infrastructure narrative.
Investors are watching to see if SpaceX can expand beyond rockets and Starlink into AI, data centers and computing services.
