Anthropic signs $19B, 20-year data center lease with TeraWulf
Anthropic will pay $19 billion over 20 years to lease a 401-megawatt data center TeraWulf is building on a former aluminum-smelting site in Hawesville, Kentucky, chosen for existing power and fiber that cut years off construction. The lease runs more than five times the $3-4 billion TeraWulf plans to spend building it — a marker of how sharply AI compute demand has repriced power-ready sites, with initial capacity due in the second half of 2027 and full 401-megawatt operation by 2028.
Source: siliconangle.com ↗
When we announced the Justified Data campus acquisition in February, we told investors that we expected to secure a major customer commitment by around the end of the second quarter of 2026. The timing of today's announcement reflects the completion of final documentation and cus
Why this matters
- → Anthropic secures 401MW compute capacity through 2028, critical for scaling AI training.
- → TeraWulf's $19B lease (5.3x build cost) signals extreme repricing of AI-ready power infrastructure.
- → Reused aluminum-smelting site with existing power avoids years of transmission delays.