What Did the SpaceX IPO Filing Reveal About xAI?
SpaceX’s IPO prospectus reveals that xAI, the AI company Elon Musk founded that was subsequently acquired by SpaceX, had an operating loss of $2.47 billion on $818 million in revenue in Q1 2026. In 2025 alone, xAI lost $6.36 billion on $3.2 billion in revenue. The company’s capital expenditures have ballooned — $12.7 billion in 2025, more than the combined $8 billion SpaceX spent on its Starlink and rocket launch services. For 2026, xAI already spent $7.7 billion in Q1 alone.
How Does xAI Compare to OpenAI and Anthropic?
xAI’s revenue growth is dwarfed by its rivals. OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate more than tripled in 2025, from $6 billion to over $20 billion. Anthropic expects to generate $10.9 billion in revenue in Q2 2026 and post its first operating profit of $559 million. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly considering IPOs as soon as Q3 2026, looking to public markets to fund ever-expanding capital requirements.
What Is the Anthropic-xAI Compute Deal?
The filing discloses that Anthropic entered into an agreement to pay xAI $1.25 billion per month to access compute through its Colossus data center. Either party can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice. This deal represents a significant revenue stream for xAI while giving Anthropic access to the massive compute infrastructure needed for frontier model training.
What Does This Mean for the AI IPO Market?
The xAI financials provide investors with unprecedented visibility into the economics of frontier AI model companies. How xAI performs over coming quarters will be an important signal for investors eyeing OpenAI and Anthropic’s IPOs. Despite heavy losses, both companies haven’t had difficulty attracting investors — Anthropic recently signed a term sheet valuing it at $900 billion.