AI developer Anthropic has directly secured 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of gas generators, investing $3.4 billion (~4.6 trillion won) to supply power to its data centers. As power demand surges with AI infrastructure expansion and generation equipment supply hits a bottleneck, Big Tech companies that once relied on external power grids are increasingly buying generation equipment outright.
According to the Financial Times on the 8th (local time), Anthropic purchased an agreement to acquire 1.7GW of gas generators from San Antonio, Texas-based equipment supplier OnePWR Solutions in late September. It is the largest publicly disclosed purchase of a single generation facility by an AI company.
The deal structure stands out. Anthropic did not acquire a stake in OnePWR or the company itself, but the contract includes the engineering and construction capabilities needed to install the generators. OnePWR had placed an order for generators with equipment manufacturer Caterpillar two years ago but reportedly lacked the funds to close the transaction. Anthropic, which had originally planned to receive power from OnePWR, chose to take over the existing generator order itself. As a result, it secured order volume placed before prices soared, and the generators are scheduled to be delivered sequentially over the next two years, starting soon.
The contract illustrates how AI data centers are changing the way they procure power. With demand for gas turbines and generators surging and equipment deliveries taking years, AI companies are using their financial muscle to take direct control from the production stage, bypassing utilities and intermediary suppliers, according to analysts.
The same trend is visible at other Big Tech firms. xAI, under SpaceX, which is led by Elon Musk, spent $2 billion (~2.7 trillion won) early this year to secure mobile gas turbines, while Google parent Alphabet acquired energy developer Intersect late last year. Anthropic is also a major SpaceX customer. Its monthly payments for leasing computing capacity are expected to reach $3.1 billion (~4.2 trillion won) by year-end.
Anthropic has secured contracts for roughly $900 billion (~1,220 trillion won) in computing resources through 2045. It had been paying a premium to procure power, semiconductors, and data center sites through outside partners, but the generator acquisition gives it greater direct control over core infrastructure.
The market views the move as supply-risk management rather than simple cost cutting. Arashi Nazad, head of clean energy and power at investment bank Stifel, said companies believe that “owning some of the power infrastructure and having in-house capabilities better protects them from disruptions they can’t control.”
Whether the deal will spur a power-procurement race across the AI industry is also a focus. With generation equipment production capacity limited, a string of large contracts could make it harder for smaller AI companies and ordinary data center operators to secure equipment and drive up procurement costs. Conversely, gas turbine and generator makers and engineering firms stand to benefit structurally as years’ worth of order backlogs accumulate.
Still, Anthropic’s move to secure its own generation equipment carries variables in the form of environmental regulation and fuel-price volatility, given that it deepens reliance on natural gas. As more companies own power infrastructure directly, the impact of energy procurement costs on the cost of AI services is likely to grow.