Anthropic has taken over a two-year-old order for natural gas generators built by Caterpillar, the Financial Times reported on November 8. The deal is worth $3.4 billion, or about 4.6 trillion Korean won.
The AI company signed the contract in September with OnePower Solutions, a U.S. power equipment supplier. The generators have a total capacity of 1.7 gigawatts.
That output matches what one to two nuclear reactors can produce. The FT said it is the largest single purchase of power generation equipment by an AI company.
How the Order Changed Hands
Anthropic did not place the original order for the generators. OnePower ordered the units from heavy machinery firm Caterpillar about two years ago.
Anthropic’s first plan was to sign a power supply contract with OnePower. Under that plan, Anthropic would have bought electricity from OnePower instead of buying the equipment.
The plan changed after OnePower struggled to secure funding. Anthropic then took over the Caterpillar order itself.
The move gave Anthropic equipment that had already been ordered years earlier. New generator orders now face delivery delays that can last for years.
Those delays are linked to the fast pace of AI data center construction. Demand for generators has grown as more facilities are built.
Grid connections and facility expansions have also faced long delays. By owning generation assets, AI firms can work around the supply schedules set by power companies.
Other Tech Firms Buy Power Assets
Anthropic is not the only AI company spending heavily on power equipment. Elon Musk’s xAI signed gas turbine purchase agreements worth a total of $2.8 billion this year.
In July, Musk acquired APR Energy for $1 billion. The company provides mobile gas and diesel power.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, agreed last year to acquire energy firm Intersect. That deal was valued at $4.75 billion.
Microsoft has taken a partnership approach. It is working with energy company Chevron to develop a 2.67 gigawatt gas-fired power plant in Texas.
The plant will be dedicated to data centers. The agreement secures a 20-year power supply for Microsoft.
Analysts say the race for AI infrastructure now goes beyond semiconductors. It has expanded to include control of power production facilities.
The FT said AI companies are using their large cash reserves to cut out middlemen. “AI companies are leveraging their vast financial resources to bypass intermediaries and directly control the production and supply of power generation facilities,” the FT wrote.
