May 21, 2026, 7:24 AM

Anthropic nears first quarterly profit, agrees to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion monthly for computing power

San Francisco-based AI firm Anthropic is reportedly nearing its first quarterly operating profit, a development considered rare within the artificial intelligence industry due to its high development and deployment costs. This potential profitability comes as the company's sales are projected to significantly outpace its substantial expenses.

The company's success highlights a notable milestone in an industry grappling with the significant financial demands of AI technology. Anthropic's sales are eclipsing the considerable costs associated with developing and deploying its AI models.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Anthropic apprised investors in recent fundraising materials that its June quarter sales could reach at least $10.9 billion. This figure would represent more than double its $4.8 billion in revenue reported for the just-ended March quarter. The same source indicated that the second-quarter operating profit is expected to reach $559 million.

One of the substantial expenses in the AI sector is the demand for computing power. This was highlighted by a recent disclosure in the IPO filing of SpaceX, Elon Musk's space and AI company. SpaceX's filing revealed an agreement with Anthropic for computing capacity.

Under the terms of this agreement, Anthropic has committed to paying SpaceX $1.25 billion per month. This arrangement for compute capacity is set to continue through May 2029.

SpaceX's IPO filing also provided insights into its own AI segment's financial performance. The segment recorded an operating loss of approximately $2.5 billion in the March quarter, on segment revenue of $818 million.

The AI industry is characterized by its high costs, particularly for the advanced computing infrastructure required to train and run sophisticated AI models like Anthropic's Claude. The company's move towards profitability suggests a potential path for other AI firms to manage these expenses through scaling revenue.

Sources