Anthropic spends $3.4 billion on generators in the biggest power deal by an AI company

Power equipment is getting harder to secure, so AI companies are skipping the middlemen and buying gear directly to keep their data centers running.

Reports say Anthropic spent $3.4 billion in late September to take over an order for heavy-duty generators totaling 1.7GW from OnePWR Solutions, a supplier in Texas, USA. It is the largest power equipment purchase ever made by an AI company. The equipment was originally ordered by OnePWR from Caterpillar two years ago, with some units arriving soon and the rest within two years.

The move is part of a growing trend: xAI spent $2 billion on mobile gas turbines earlier this year, and Google's parent company Alphabet bought energy developer Intersect.

Since generator delivery times now stretch to years, well-funded AI companies are taking power supply into their own hands. By the end of the year, Anthropic is also expected to pay SpaceX $3.1 billion a month for computing power.