A US tech giant wants a slice of Australia’s data centre network and according to the AFR’s blockbuster scoop, this is shaping up as far more than your average infrastructure deal and a MUST read by anyone who’s unnerved by the looming AI era.
Anthropic, the AI powerhouse behind Claude, is knocking on Australia’s door with a $21.6 billion ask, and the implications go well beyond server racks and gigawatts. Is this move by this US tech giant a problem, you might ask? Well, the answer is, no one knows. But one thing’s for certain, Donald Trump wouldn’t allow US data about everything that’s recorded on emails, texts, social media platforms and more be in their data centres owned by a foreign power.
But of course, as the US is our number one ‘big brother’ in a world of related potential protectors, we do tend to rubber-stamp all things USA.
That’s the gamble we accept living as a successful country smack dab in the middle of Asia, whose populations probably can’t even imagine having the income per head we take for granted.
So, with all this unpacked, let’s look at the facts of this AFR story. Here goes:
- US AI giant Anthropic is set to spend $21.6 billion to get huge data centre capacity.
- It wants 1.4 gigawatts of capacity to power its AI product made famous by Claude that lots of businesses and consumers are using nowadays.
- Anthropic is looking for a local partner data centre to host its business, which will grow exponentially as the country embraces AI, creating money-making opportunities and new jobs, while killing others. It’s a productivity promise play.
- The request for proposal (or RFP) has been sent to five local data centre players: CDC Data Centres, AirTrunk, NextDC, Iren and Stack.
- The AFR says this very big deal could be split between four or five parties.
- But shock horror, the Infratil-owned CDC Data Centres are tipped to get the lion’s share of this $21 billion deal, and this is a Kiwi business!
As you’d expect, these big spending Yanks have demanded answers on an 11-point checklist, with financial strength and even the land these companies own being important. And where the land is, could be crucial.
As the AFR revealed: “Next, it wanted the full details on the applicant’s land bank, including if they could house four or more buildings without being in a residential area or in a school’s backyard.”
And there were more demands, with the US company wanting “summaries on how an applicant met the energy needs of projects above 300MW.”
This is a fair dinkum deal that’s bound to affect the share prices of companies such as NextDC and Iren, with the former a local darling stock and the latter listed on the US-based Nasdaq.
While this Anthropic play is a big financial deal, it also tells us that AI is coming down the information superhighway like a big Mack truck, and we have to hope the driver is responsible and doesn’t lose control. It also puts a lot of pressure on our politicians to police these huge AI companies that are going to be a part of our lives, our economy and country for life!
One last AFR revelation is worth noting: “The beauty parade, revealed by Street Talk last month, comes after Anthropic cut the ribbon on its Australian operations, promised investment in Australian universities, and powered through Canberra earlier this year. Weeks later, it extended access to its vaunted Mythos model to Australian companies, only for the Trump administration to step in and ban foreign sales of the product.”
AI is bound to be a drama worth watching!
