Anthropic Buys $3.4 Billion in Gas Generators to Power AI, FT Says
Anthropic reportedly took over 1.7 gigawatts of Caterpillar generator orders, a rare move into owning power hardware as AI electricity shortages deepen.
Anthropic, the San Francisco artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, has agreed to pay about $3.4 billion for natural gas-fired generators capable of producing up to 1.7 gigawatts of electricity, the Financial Times reported. The deal marks a sharp turn for a company that has mostly rented, rather than owned, the infrastructure behind its AI models, and it comes as Anthropic prepares for a stock market debut.
What happened
According to the Financial Times, whose report was relayed by several outlets including TechCrunch, Anthropic committed in late September to take over orders for heavy-duty Caterpillar generators that had originally been placed by OnePWR Solutions, a San Antonio, Texas, company that develops on-site power systems for large energy users. OnePWR ordered the equipment roughly two years ago but could not secure the financing needed to complete the purchase.
Anthropic had initially planned to buy electricity from OnePWR as a customer, the reports said, but instead went directly to Caterpillar and took over the orders. Anthropic did not acquire OnePWR, and none of the smaller company’s employees moved to the AI firm. A person familiar with the matter told the FT that the package includes engineering and construction work to install the generators, according to a summary published by the AI news site MLQ.ai.
The FT described the agreement as the largest known single purchase of power-generation equipment by an AI lab. Neither Anthropic nor OnePWR commented, and Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, MLQ.ai noted. Where the generators will be installed and when they will be delivered have not been disclosed.
A listing by Piper Sandler, the investment bank that served as OnePWR’s exclusive financial adviser, describes a completed $3.4 billion sale of OnePWR’s power generation platform to “a frontier AI lab,” without naming the buyer, MLQ.ai reported.
Why it matters
The purchase reflects how severe the electricity squeeze facing AI developers has become. TechCrunch reported that backlogs for new natural gas turbines now stretch into the early 2030s and that waits to connect to the power grid can be just as long. Buying equipment that was ordered years ago lets Anthropic skip much of that queue, and TechCrunch suggested the company may also have wanted to keep the capacity out of a rival’s hands. TechCrunch’s climate reporter, Tim De Chant, called the purchase “a last resort.”
It is also a departure from Anthropic’s usual strategy. In its May filing to go public, known as an S-1, the company disclosed that it pays xAI, the AI company that is now a subsidiary of SpaceX, $1.25 billion a month through May 2029 for computing power, and said it expected to sign more contracts of that kind, TechCrunch reported.
Anthropic has acknowledged the power problem in its own disclosures. An amended filing in early November said limited access to electricity is constraining data center expansion in several markets and that new power supplies and grid connections can take years, according to MLQ.ai. The same filing listed roughly $895.4 billion in total commitments, mostly for computing and infrastructure. It is not clear whether the generator deal is included in that figure.
The wider rush to gas
Anthropic is joining a broad industry shift toward building private power plants next to data centers rather than relying on the public grid. TechCrunch noted that Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta have all announced plans for large on-site natural gas plants. Elon Musk’s xAI reportedly bought mobile gas turbines for about $2 billion earlier this year, and equipment makers are benefiting: Caterpillar’s power generation sales rose 30% to $3.42 billion in the third quarter, driven largely by demand from data centers, according to figures cited by MLQ.ai.
The strategy carries risks. Among those highlighted in the coverage:
- Fuel costs: TechCrunch cited one analyst’s forecast that natural gas prices in some markets could more than triple by the end of the decade, which could leave companies that own gas generators with sharply higher operating costs.
- Overall demand: If current plans proceed, U.S. data centers alone could burn more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035, TechCrunch reported.
- Permits and pollution: On-site gas plants require air permits, which have become contentious. A federal judge has allowed a pollution lawsuit brought by the NAACP against xAI’s turbines in Mississippi to proceed, MLQ.ai noted.
The move also sits awkwardly alongside Anthropic’s earlier public commitments. In February the company pledged to pay for all grid upgrades its data centers require and to work to bring new generation online to match its consumption.
What comes next
The report lands at a sensitive time. Anthropic is preparing an initial public offering, and MLQ.ai reported that its investor roadshow was expected to begin this week, with valuations of about $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion under discussion. Investors are likely to press the company on how much power it can secure, how quickly, and at what cost, as well as on how exposed it will be to natural gas prices once the generators begin running within the next two years.
