Anthropic, a company that has built its reputation on renting computing power rather than owning infrastructure, is spending $3.4 billion on natural gas turbines. The AI startup, preparing to go public this year, is acquiring Caterpillar generators that equipment supplier OnePWR had ordered years earlier but could not finance. The generators can produce up to 1.7 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power significant data center capacity.
The purchase represents a notable shift for Anthropic. In its S-1 filing in May the company disclosed it is paying SpaceX subsidiary xAI $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 to access xAI's computing infrastructure. The filing stated Anthropic expects to enter into additional similar services contracts, indicating a strategy centered on rented resources rather than owned assets.
According to the Financial Times report, OnePWR ordered the turbines a couple of years ago but was unable to secure financing to complete the purchase. Anthropic had intended to acquire them from OnePWR but instead negotiated directly with Caterpillar, the manufacturer. The report does not explain why OnePWR could not find financing despite Anthropic's evident interest as a customer. The most likely explanation, cited by those familiar with the situation, is that Anthropic sought to secure the generating capacity exclusively rather than allow a competitor the opportunity to claim it.
Grid connection queues and turbine delivery backlogs stretch into the early 2030s, making timely deployment uncertain. Anthropic's move appears to be a last resort driven by the acute power crunch facing AI companies. The purchase marks a departure from the company's historical preference for rental models, suggesting that demand for compute has made the power market increasingly unpredictable.
Anthropic is not alone in this shift. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have all announced plans to build massive natural gas power plants to supply data centers on-site rather than drawing from the public electrical grid. This widespread move has revived interest in fracking, the drilling method used to extract natural gas from underground rock. If the buildout proceeds as projected, U.S. data centers alone could consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035. The reliance on natural gas also exposes hyperscalers to price volatility. One analyst has suggested prices could more than triple by the end of the decade in some markets, which would create a significant financial burden for companies that have already committed to large-scale purchases.
Anthropic's $3.4 billion turbine acquisition locks in generating capacity at a time when the AI industry's energy demands are escalating rapidly. The company, which has generally avoided owning physical infrastructure, is now making a substantial bet on on-site power generation. Whether this proves to be a prudent investment or a costly mistake will depend on how natural gas prices evolve and whether the anticipated demand for AI compute materializes as projected.