Anthropic would use natural gas to power Claude... and that could spark debate

Anthropic does not want to venture into manufacturing new generators to power its data centers. The American company has therefore assumed purchase commitments initially made two years earlier by OnePWR Solutions. Important point: these generators run on natural gas, an increasingly sought-after energy source, the extraction and combustion of which have a significant impact on the environment.

Anthropic bets on natural gas to power its data centers

According to information from the Financial Times, Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is said to have reached a deal for $3.4 billion (around €3 billion) to equip its data centers with natural-gas-powered generators. These generators would provide a combined capacity of 1.7 GW. In other words, Anthropic wants to develop its own power generation capacity to supply its facilities dedicated to artificial intelligence.

To be more precise, Anthropic has taken over existing orders for Caterpillar gas generators, originally placed two years earlier by OnePWR Solutions, a Texas-based company specializing in power generation and distribution infrastructure. It is also worth noting that this $3.4 billion amount includes the purchase of generators, as well as engineering and construction services. At the time of writing, we do not yet know where these generators will be installed, but they are likely to spark quite a few debates.

A strategy that could run into the Democrats

In preparation for its initial public offering, Anthropic revealed that it had made financial commitments of approximately $895.4 billion for purchasing and leasing computing capacity and infrastructure. In its stock market filing, the company also warned that the rush to use gas to power data centers “could drive up the price of natural gas in certain regions.” Anthropic, which recently announced the launch of a general-interest fund, now therefore appears to be actively participating in this rush to natural gas.

It should be said that manufacturing new generators takes several years and requires compliance with various industrial and regulatory constraints. Given the frenzied race in which the leading AI providers are competing, Anthropic does not want to lose time and is therefore taking on generator orders previously placed by OnePWR Solutions.

However, Anthropic’s move could now be significantly undermined by the Democrats’ recent victory in the US midterm elections. Immediately after the election results, the stock value of several companies that work with data centers fell sharply. According to Goldman Sachs, the Democrats’ victory could temporarily slow nearly 45% of the planned increase in data center capacity in the United States.In addition to this, of course, are the environmental questions related to the extraction and combustion of natural gas. In short, Anthropic wants to take a shortcut, but the Democrats could stand in its way.

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Source: Financial Times