Anthropic Secures Huge Deal For Australia AI Data Centre, Aims To Build One Of The Largest Computing Facilities In The World

Anthropic has signed its first data centre lease agreement in Australia. The deal gives the AI company capacity at what would be among the largest computing facilities in the world, taking advantage of a favourable political climate and the country's abundant renewable energy resources.

Reuters reported that the lease covers a data centre campus with planned capacity totalling 2.16 gigawatts, a scale comparable to some of the largest such centres currently in operation globally. The proposed site sits on farmland roughly 250 km from Brisbane and is expected to begin coming online in 2027.

Part of a wider race for capacity in Australia

The agreement makes Anthropic the latest major AI company to establish a presence in Australia, following an offtake deal OpenAI struck for a Sydney data centre last year. Reuters noted that companies are racing to secure power and land in the country, which has been positioned as a lower-cost, renewable-energy-rich alternative to more congested markets in the United States and Asia.

Comes amid debate over AI development pace

The deal follows recent comments from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who last week urged AI companies to slow the pace at which they advance model capabilities, citing growing concerns over potential misuse of artificial intelligence. That call was echoed by Elon Musk of xAI and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. US President Donald Trump, however, described critics raising such concerns as negative voices exaggerating scenarios that would not materialise, Reuters reported.

Government balancing investment and resource concerns

According to the report, Australia's government has faced community pushback over the land, water and electricity demands of data centres, and has said it will introduce restrictions on data centre resource use starting in 2027. At the same time, authorities continue to encourage investment in the sector, which economists estimate could total A$150 billion in Australia by 2030.

Deal details and next steps

Reuters reported that Anthropic's lease is tied to a data centre planned by Singapore-based developer Zerra DC, which is expected to source power through renewable purchase agreements and cover its own grid connection costs. The facility is intended for inference workloads rather than training, one source said, and will use a closed-loop, air-cooled system to limit water use for cooling servers.