Anthropic joins AI’s natural gas frenzy, buys $3.4B worth of turbines

Anthropic, which has typically rented rather than owned physical infrastructure, is spending $3.4 billion on natural gas turbines to secure power for its AI operations, TechCrunch reports, citing the Financial Times. The deal covers Caterpillar generators capable of producing as much as 1.7 gigawatts. The equipment supplier OnePWR originally ordered the turbines a couple of years ago but could not line up financing to complete the purchase. Anthropic had intended to buy them through OnePWR but ended up going straight to Caterpillar. TechCrunch says it is unclear why OnePWR failed to secure funding despite having Anthropic as an apparent customer.

The move marks a shift for Anthropic, which TechCrunch notes is planning to go public this year. In its S-1 filing in May, the company disclosed paying xAI, a SpaceX subsidiary, $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for computing capacity, and said it expected to sign more similar rental contracts. But TechCrunch argues that tightening power markets may have forced Anthropic's hand. Turbine backlogs now extend into the early 2030s, and grid connection queues can be just as long. The publication characterizes the purchase as a last resort, likely aimed at keeping the capacity away from rivals.

Anthropic joins Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, all of which have announced on-site natural gas plants for their data centers. TechCrunch says the trend has revived fracking and that, if buildouts proceed, U.S. data centers could burn more gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035. It also warns of price risk, citing one analyst who expects prices could more than triple in some markets by decade's end.