Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s main rivals, is preparing for a significant shift in its infrastructure strategy. According to The Information, the company plans not only to utilise the computing power of cloud providers, but also to lease and manage data centres itself. This is a move that could change the way the largest AI development companies operate.
According to reports, the start-up has already signed a dozen or so preliminary agreements to lease US data centres with a combined capacity exceeding 1 GW. This scale is equivalent to the energy demand of a large city and demonstrates just how rapidly computing needs associated with the development of AI models are growing.
Google could play a key role in the project. Discussions are said to concern not only the use of TPU chips co-designed by Google, but also the provision of financial guarantees for part of Anthropic’s leasing commitments. Neither Google nor Anthropic has confirmed this information.
The decision is part of a broader trend observed in the industry. The biggest players in AI are increasingly seeking to secure access to infrastructure for years to come, rather than relying solely on cloud services. This is particularly important for Anthropic, as demand for the Claude model family is growing rapidly. The company had previously reported rapid growth in the number of business customers and increased investment in computing power.
At the same time, the company is preparing to go public. In early June, Anthropic announced that it had confidentially filed documents relating to a planned IPO in the United States. The company had previously secured further funding, and the media also reported on plans to increase Google’s capital stake in the start-up.
If these plans go ahead, Anthropic could become one of the first major AI laboratories to take direct control of its own infrastructure on such a large scale. This signals that, in the race to develop artificial intelligence, the advantage increasingly depends not only on the quality of the models, but also on access to energy, chips and data centres.
