Anthropic Doubles Claude Code Usage Limits, Signs SpaceX Compute Deal

Anthropic announced at its Code with Claude developer conference on Wednesday that it has doubled Claude Code's five-hour window usage limits for Pro and Max plan subscribers, removed the peak-hours limit reduction on Claude Code for those same accounts, and increased API usage limits for its Opus model. The changes are credited to a new deal with SpaceX that provides Anthropic access to more than 300 megawatts of compute capacity from SpaceX's Colossus 1 supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee.

Key details from the announcement

• Usage limit changes: Pro and Max subscribers now get double the previous five-hour window limits for Claude Code. The peak-hours limit reduction (previously applied during high-demand periods) has been eliminated entirely for these accounts.
• Opus API limits: Specific new rate limits for the Opus model were shared in a table (not fully reproduced here), effective May 6, 2026.
• SpaceX's Colossus 1: Over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs, including H100, H200, and next-generation GB200 accelerators, power the facility.
• Orbital compute interest: Anthropic "expressed interest" in working with SpaceX to build "multiple gigawatts" of orbital compute capacity, referencing the idea that "compute required to train and operate the next generation of these systems is outpacing what terrestrial power, land, and cooling can deliver."

Demand for Claude Code has surged due to users migrating from OpenAI (following military agreement controversies), increased adoption in professional software development, and a shift from single-agent chat-based tasks to multi-agent workflows. Anthropic has reportedly signed massive compute deals with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Nvidia in the past month to keep up.

Elon Musk, previously critical of Anthropic (calling it "anti-Western" in February), changed tone with the deal, tweeting: "I spent a lot of time last week with senior members of the Anthropic team to understand what they do to ensure Claude is good for humanity and was impressed. No one set off my evil detector."