Elon Musk Backs Anthropic, Calls Mythos/Fable the AI Leader

One of AI's fiercest rivalries just took an unexpected turn.

After months of criticizing Anthropic, Elon Musk has publicly admitted he was wrong, calling the company the current leader in AI and praising its latest Mythos and Fable models. He also made it clear that, despite being competitors, he would never intentionally cut off Anthropic's access to SpaceXAI's massive computing infrastructure.

The comments mark a dramatic shift. Earlier this year, Musk repeatedly attacked Anthropic, accusing the company of bias and dismissing its chances in the AI race. Now, following a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure partnership between SpaceX and Anthropic, he's singing a very different tune. Under the agreement, Anthropic is leasing more than 300 megawatts of AI compute—over 220,000 Nvidia GPUs—from SpaceX's Colossus 1 data center in a deal reportedly worth $1.25 billion per month through 2029.

Musk went even further, saying no company has released a model as good as Mythos/Fable, and predicted that Mythos 2 is likely on the way soon. When an X user suggested Musk could cripple Anthropic by cutting off its compute access, he rejected the idea outright, saying, "That's not my style."

The timing is significant. Anthropic recently regained broader global availability for its Fable models after U.S. export restrictions were eased, giving developers worldwide access to one of the industry's most talked-about AI systems. At the same time, the company is rapidly expanding its compute footprint, reinforcing its position among the top AI labs.

Why it matters: AI competition is evolving beyond model launches. Access to massive compute infrastructure is becoming the defining advantage, and Musk's comments highlight a new reality: today's biggest AI rivals can also be each other's most important partners.