Newcomer Pod · 2 min · Jun 8, 2026

Anthropic’s reported profit coincided with a compute discount

Ed Zitron · Founder & CEO, EZPR

Ed Zitron says Anthropic’s reported profit covered two months when Elon Musk discounted its compute.

In this episode

12:01 AI subscriptions hide the real cost of a unit of workPro pick 7 min
33:06 Data center expansion depends on an enormous debt marketPro pick 2 min
41:37 Executive demos can make AI look more capable than it is7 min
8:56Anthropic’s reported profit coincided with a compute discount2 min
27:17 Anthropic has not defined its reported run rate5 min
37:59 Tech firms pushed AI into products before users asked for it4 min
50:49 Some AI safety stories omitted how tests were staged3 min

“anthropic leaking that they are profitable in the two months that Elon Musk discounted their compute.”

Ed Zitronat 10:16 · Newcomer Pod

Takeaways

The profitability claim covered May and June.
Those months coincided with discounted Colossus compute.
Zitron says the discount distorts the apparent economics.

About this segment

Ed Zitron says Anthropic’s reported profit covered two months when Elon Musk discounted its compute. He argues the timing leaves the company’s underlying costs unclear.

Ed Zitron is a writer and podcast host.

Hosts Better Offline and writes Where's Your Ed At, a prominent critic of AI industry hype.

EN
Eric Newcomer, Host · Newcomer

From “Ed Zitron Unfiltered on OpenAI, Anthropic & Why the Whole Thing Is a Con”, Jun 8, 2026. Watch the full episode

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

9:02
going to spend that that's going to come to a stop. What's your view? Anthropic has now confidentially filed to go public. I think you said in our last conversation, there wouldn't be exits is now the view that they're going to try to exit, but they're going to pull one over on us. Like, what's your view on, I guess, when does this all come to an end? Like, does it survive an IPO? So I said this on Bloomberg.
9:24
I don't think regulatory bodies should let Anthropica or OpenAI go public. I think that they are both irresponsibly run companies run by craven liars. Both Dario Amodei and Sam Orman sell their products based on what they might do, theoretically, rather than what they can do. Every time anyone asks Sam Orman how this will work out on CNBC, David Faber was like, So how are you going to get around to the return on investment thing?
9:47
He's like, yeah, somebody will work it out. Sammy, clammy Sammy, this is your job. You are the AI industry. But to your greater point, I think one of them is going to try and go public. I think they're going to bull rush this thing. I think it's inevitable opening if I was to go public. And based on some stuff I might have read recently, they sure shouldn't. They're losing too much money. Anthropic, on the other hand, is also losing just as much money.
10:11
They had this, one of the most disgusting things I've seen done by these companies outside of the environmental damage, the stealing, the CSAM that Grog generated, putting all that aside, anthropic leaking that they are profitable in the two months that Elon Musk discounted their compute. Do we not have an SEC anymore? Do we not have any kind of regulatory body? We certainly don't have a conscience in the valley because everyone was like.
10:36
Your view is that they made a profit because Elon gave them a deal on their compute. Yes, and that's in the SpaceX S1. Specifically, the May and June in Q2, Anthropic will become profitable. Will, because it's June now. It was not when that story came out. And mysteriously, those are the two months, May and June, when Elon Musk discounted Colossus 1 and 2 for Anthropic. it's just like and what sucks is that's publicly available information this is in the s1 for spacex and people are still like they're profitable now it's like yeah you're profitable as long as you don't don't count the costs and so it's in my view on this is we're hope we will get the