While Anthropic will use the Colossus 1 data center, which has a really bad environmental record, xAI retains the larger Colossus 2 for its own AI training

Anthropic is getting access to xAI's Colossus 1 data center. The deal emerged as the biggest announcement from Anthropic's Code w/ Claude event, which was otherwise light on major reveals.

There's a catch, though. Colossus 1 carries a notably bad environmental record. And xAI isn't exactly handing over the keys to the kingdom — it's retaining the larger Colossus 2 facility for its own AI training needs.

The arrangement is notable for what it signals: two competing AI labs sharing infrastructure, even as they race against each other. Anthropic gets compute capacity; xAI presumably gets revenue from a facility it's not prioritizing.

Simon Willison flagged the environmental concerns as a significant caveat worth watching. The Colossus 1 facility's track record on that front remains a real liability for anyone operating inside it.