San Francisco-based Anthropic has struck a deal worth about $3.4 billion for gas-fired generators to power its AI data centers, the Financial Times reported Sunday, Nov. 8.
The deal covers up to 1.7 gigawatts of heavy-duty generators. Anthropic bought the commitments in late September from OnePWR Solutions, an equipment supplier based in San Antonio, Texas, CNBC reported, citing the FT. Anthropic did not buy OnePWR, but the deal included engineering and construction help to install the generators. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and Anthropic and OnePWR did not respond to requests for comment.
Why it matters
The generators are made by Caterpillar and were originally ordered by OnePWR, which could not find financing to complete the purchase, TechCrunch reported. Anthropic has generally preferred to rent computing capacity rather than buy physical infrastructure. TechCrunch said the backlog for natural gas turbines stretches into the early 2030s, and waits to connect to the power grid can be just as long.
Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta have also announced plans for large natural gas plants to power data centers on site. Reuters reported in September that Anthropic expects to spend more than $500 billion over 10 years on AI infrastructure. Related: Google unveils new AI chips.