Elon Musk publicly reversed his view of Anthropic on Thursday. He admitted he was “clearly wrong” about the AI company, calling it the current industry leader after months of harsh public criticism.
Here is what Musk said, why it matters, and how his own Grok 4.5 launch fits the picture.
What Musk Actually Said About Anthropic
A public reversal is when a prominent figure openly contradicts an earlier stated position. Elon Musk did exactly that on X, writing, “I was clearly wrong about Anthropic. They are obviously currently the leader in AI.”
His praise centered on Anthropic’s latest models. Musk added that no company has released a system as good as Mythos or Fable. Furthermore, he predicted the Claude maker would undoubtedly have Mythos 2 ready soon.
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The comment marks a stunning shift in tone. Earlier this year, Musk repeatedly slammed Anthropic, branding it a hypocritical company and calling its Claude models “misanthropic and evil.”
Moreover, in September 2025, he claimed: “winning was never in the set of possible outcomes for Anthropic.”
Despite the provocative comments, Musk also pledged restraint despite the rivalry. He wrote that he would never cut off Anthropic in a way that would hurt it badly, even as a competitor. “That’s not my style.”
Why Did Musk Change His Mind Now
The timing raises obvious questions, especially given the competitive and financial ties between the two companies. Musk’s reversal came just as his own AI venture pushed deeper into the model race.
Those ties run deep through infrastructure. In May 2026, Anthropic signed a deal to lease compute from SpaceXAI’s Colossus 1 facility near Memphis. The company pays roughly $1.25 billion monthly for over 220,000 Nvidia GPUs through May 2029.
SpaceXAI launched Grok 4.5 this week, positioning it as faster and cheaper than rivals. However, independent analysis ranked it as the “top non-Anthropic model.” Meanwhile, three Anthropic models remained ahead at the top of the list.
Musk himself acknowledged the capability gap. He later admitted that Grok 4.5 competes with an earlier generation of Claude, rather than the current flagship.
As a result, his praise for Anthropic aligned with the independent benchmark results. Anthropic’s commercial momentum is also hard to ignore.
The reversal reflects a broader industry reality. Even the fiercest rivals now struggle to dismiss Anthropic’s frontier position. Musk’s words suggest that the Claude maker currently sets the benchmark that every competitor in the AI sector must chase.
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