THE CRUNCH
Anthropic will pay $3.4 billion to lock in 1.7 gigawatts of gas-fired power for the data centres running its AI models, adopting Caterpillar turbine orders that Texas supplier OnePWR Solutions had originally placed, Reuters reported. The late-September deal also includes the engineering and construction work to fit the kit on site.
Anthropic is not acquiring OnePWR. It is stepping into the supplier's outstanding generator commitments, placed roughly two years earlier but left needing extra financing. Adopting orders already in Caterpillar's production queue spares Anthropic a wait in a market where big orders keep accumulating and manufacturers cannot keep up, particularly with AI firms among the buyers.
The squeeze is severe: global turbine orders have reportedly exceeded 100GW against manufacturing capacity estimated at 60GW to 70GW, and typical US wait times now run to six years, with some would-be buyers told delivery may slip to 2030 or 2031. Anthropic is not alone in turning to on-site gas generation. OpenAI's first Stargate data centre in Abilene, Texas is being developed with 29 GE Vernova turbines rated at up to 986MW combined, while xAI has installed eight converted jet turbines at a Mississippi site, a deployment that has drawn environmental scrutiny from the Southern Environmental Law Center over its emissions permits.
Fast power also carries environmental costs. Shakeel Hashim, founder of ReadTransformer, called the purchase "pretty grim", saying such generators are "terrible for the environment". That criticism is one Anthropic must answer as it builds out its electricity supply.