Anthropic Signs First Australian Data Centre Lease
Anthropic has signed its first lease for data center capacity in Australia, at a site on a campus planned for farmland, about 250km west of Brisbane, according to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the deal. The site belongs to a Singapore-based developer, likely Zerra DC, and plans are for a 2.16 GW facility, among the largest computing campuses.
Neither the value nor financial terms were disclosed, and the deal still requires approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. The facility will handle only inference, or rapid prediction-based processing, running models that have already been trained rather than training new ones.
This news follows Anthropic's visit to Canberra in March, where CEO Dario Amodei signed a government memorandum of understanding, expressing interest in investing in data center infrastructure and energy throughout the country. Emails obtained by the ABC showed earlier inquiries about installing up to 5GW of AI training capacity in New South Wales.
For Anthropic, this lease is another significant infrastructure investment, following deals in Britain and the US. The project's location raises questions about who should pay for these facilities, with debates ongoing over national energy rules and standards.
Story by Ana-Maria Stanciuc, Editor-in-Chief at TNW.