Access to large-scale computing power is becoming a major challenge for AI companies. Anthropic is responding with an aggressive expansion strategy, signing major supply agreements and exploring new data centre sites to support its growing demand.
The company has committed $895.4 billion through 2045 to computing capacity and chip deals, according to its public offering prospectus. It has signed agreements with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, SpaceX, chipmakers, former cryptocurrency miners and data centre startups.
Anthropic expects to secure more than 3.5 gigawatts of computing capacity in 2026, with plans to double that amount in 2027. Its CEO, Dario Amodei, previously described forecasting demand as a “cone of uncertainty”, making it difficult to avoid supply mistakes.
Massive investments to secure computing power
The company’s commitments include $121.3 billion with Google, $110 billion with Amazon, $44.9 billion with Microsoft and $120.5 billion with SpaceX through 2036. It has also signed a $50 billion agreement with Fluidstack and a $41.3 billion deal with Lambda.
Anthropic is working with former crypto miners TeraWulf and Hut 8 to develop data centres. It is also hiring construction and supply chain specialists, purchasing chips directly from Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom, and acquiring cooling systems and other equipment to speed up installations.
The company has explored sites in Texas, Indiana and other states, including converting old coal plants and factories into data centres. It is now considering facilities as small as 50 megawatts, supported by batteries and natural gas, to bring capacity online faster.
However, construction has faced challenges involving power stability, equipment installation and shortages of skilled workers. In one project, Anthropic and TeraWulf sought additional electricians from other regions to address a labour shortage.
Rising costs increase pressure ahead of IPO
Demand for Anthropic’s Claude Code tool has grown, forcing the company to limit free usage and increase some prices because of computing shortages.
The company is also preparing for a potential $100 billion IPO and recently secured $63 billion in debt financing from banks and private credit firms. However, it has warned that additional funding may be needed sooner than expected.
Anthropic’s chief compute officer, Tom Brown, has described computing capacity as “very clearly the bottleneck for all of our progress.”
John Tough of Energize Capital said Anthropic may need to secure capacity in smaller increments rather than through large projects.
“The next best thing is to scavenge the world to figure out where there’s power lines,” he said.
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