xAI is looking more like a datacentre REIT than a frontier lab (martinalderson.com) AI

The article argues that xAI’s partnerships with Anthropic and Google—providing large amounts of datacentre capacity via SpaceX-linked channels—make it look more like a datacentre “REIT” with a frontier lab than a traditional frontier AI lab, citing massive monthly fee figures and cancellation clauses. It notes that Anthropic had been facing capacity crunches that the deals alleviate, while also raising red flags such as potential financial/strategic motivation connected to competition and SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, and suggesting xAI’s speed in datacentre buildout could be a key competitive advantage.