As the need for AI infrastructure to support ever-evolving models grows, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) will provide financial support for the construction of a multibillion-dollar data center project in Texas, US, that will be leased to leading artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic.
The Financial Times reports, citing “people familiar with the matter,” that initial investment in the 2,800-acre data center campus in Texas could exceed $5 billion, and that Google’s financing for the construction phase is part of a broader infrastructure deal with tech giant Anthropic.
Sources told the FT that a consortium of banks is competing to deliver early-stage funding by the middle of this year, but with support from Google, the project should be able to raise money at a lower cost given its high credit rating.
Construction has reportedly already begun on the site, which will deliver about 500 megawatts of capacity, enough to power about 500,000 U.S. homes by the end of 2026, with the potential to expand to 7.7 gigawatts. It is also located near major gas pipelines, allowing it to rely on on-site gas turbines.
Reports of Google’s increased infrastructure support for Anthropic come as the company continues to tussle with the U.S. government over how state and military AI models are used.
Until recently, Anthropic reportedly had a $200 million contract with the U.S. military to use its technology within the Pentagon’s classified networks. The relationship began to crack in February when Anthropic said it was “unable in good conscience to comply” with Department of the Army’s (DoW) demands to remove security measures from its AI models, including those related to domestic mass surveillance.
The company also reportedly expressed concern that its products were used in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces in January.
In response, U.S. Army Secretary Pete Hegseth took a hard line, and on February 27, classified Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” (a designation typically reserved for adversaries of the United States) and ordered any contractors, suppliers, or partners doing business with the U.S. military not to engage in any commercial activity with Anthropic, effective immediately.
Anthropic has vowed to fight the issue in court, and on the same day the FT reported on Google and Anthropic’s deepening infrastructure relationship, U.S. Federal Judge Rita Lin of the Northern District of California temporarily barred U.S. government agencies from implementing supply chain risk designations, arguing that the result would cause “economic and reputational damage” to Anthropic and could cause the company to become “dysfunctional.”
Anthropic’s latest AI infrastructure expansion, which is not without controversy, also comes just days after the leak of its next frontier AI model, dubbed “Mythos,” triggered a sell-off in cybersecurity stocks on concerns that the powerful AI could become a hacker’s dream device.
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