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Illustration: Sarah Grillo\/Axios. Stock: Getty Images <\/p>\n Illustration: Sarah Grillo\/Axios. Stock: Getty Images <\/p>\n
Reflection \u2014 an Nvidia-backed open-source<\/a> AI startup \u2014 signed a major compute agreement with SpaceXAI, securing immediate access to chips and hardware from the SpaceX Colossus 2 data center.<\/p>\n Why it matters: If open-source AI companies are going to compete with the frontier AI labs, they needs compute. Reflection is now getting it from the same source its competitors are.<\/p>\n Driving the news: After an initial ramp period, Reflection will pay SpaceXAI $150 million a month starting July 1, 2026, through 2029.<\/p>\n The deal gives Reflection access to high-end reasoning GB300 chips and other hardware inside Colossus 2, expanding the compute available to train its models.<\/p>\n Either company can end the deal with 90 days’ notice after the first three months.<\/p>\n The deal follows similar compute agreements. Both Anthropic<\/a> and Google<\/a> are expected to spend billions for access to Elon Musk’s compute capacity.<\/p>\n Follow the money: It’s a reminder that the AI boom’s biggest players are increasingly investors, suppliers and customers to one another, often all at the same time.<\/p>\n Nvidia<\/a> invested $800 million in Reflection, which is now getting access to Nvidia chips purchased by SpaceX.<\/p>\n Nvidia is helping fund its next generation of customers, while some startups are dodging the multibillion-dollar cost of building their own data centers by leasing compute from others.<\/p>\n Between the lines: Compute is the scarce resource fueling the AI race.<\/p>\n Some investors have called Reflection the “DeepSeek of the West,” The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a>. The company is still training its models.<\/p>\n Having more compute capacity while training its models could allow Reflection to compete more directly with frontier AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.<\/p>\n Zoom out: The deal comes amid a surge in interest surrounding open source models<\/a>.<\/p>\n Anthropic<\/a> shut down access to its most powerful models after the Trump administration threatened to block access for foreign nationals, raising questions about who gets to control access to intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike closed models, open models can often be downloaded, inspected and modified. Many of the strongest open models now come from Chinese labs.<\/p>\n What they’re saying: “Recent events highlight how important open source is to the AI ecosystem, with more nations and enterprises recognizing the risks and costs associated with exclusively depending on closed models,” a Reflection spokesperson said.<\/p>\n