Termination terms in Anthropic's $120.5 billion compute contract, Amazon-Globalstar approval, Starlink across United's whole fleet

Key evidence

• Anthropic S-1 (SEC, 26 Oct) discloses that between May and October this year Anthropic signed several NVIDIA GPU compute contracts (including amendments) with SpaceXAI, a wholly owned SpaceX subsidiary. They total up to $120.5 billion and run to 2029. Once all the compute is delivered (expected December 2026), payments will be about $3.1 billion a month, or about $9.3 billion a quarter. The capacity ramp-up period is charged at separate rates. Key terms: the non-cancellable periods end in January and March 2027 respectively, after which either side may terminate on 90 days' written notice.
• Inference (not official): 'Customer B' in the 10-Q appears only in the Superintelligence segment, at about $5 billion in Q3, and is very likely Anthropic. At $3.1 billion a month, this one customer would be worth about $9.3 billion in Q1 2027, roughly a quarter of the $33-37 billion of revenue that management has guided to verbally.
• Via Satellite, 27 Oct: the FCC has approved Amazon's acquisition of Globalstar, giving Amazon L-band and S-band mobile satellite spectrum and a formal entry into direct-to-cell. Amazon has applied for a direct-to-cell constellation of up to 5,105 satellites, and closing is still scheduled for 2027. The commission's order says explicitly that the deal lets 'well-funded operators' offer stronger direct-to-cell services.
• On Starlink's side, 15,000 direct-to-cell satellites were approved on 7 Oct. Globalstar is currently Apple's satellite communications partner, so what Apple does once Globalstar belongs to Amazon is worth watching.
• United Airlines CEO Kirby (Cheeky Pint podcast, 27 Oct): Starlink is installed on 661 aircraft, with about 3 more fitted each day. It covers 48% of flights, rising to 50% next week, and September alone saw more than 5.4 million passenger uses. The original plan covered 65% of the fleet. It is now the whole fleet by the end of 2027, and Los Angeles will become the first all-Starlink hub in the first half of 2027. Kirby called it the biggest competitive advantage in the industry (though only a temporary one) and said Delta is making a mistake by not choosing Starlink.
• For reference, American Airlines will fit its whole mainline fleet of 1,000+ aircraft and easyJet all of its 300+. The pace at which signed contracts turn into installed aircraft still has room to rise.