Anthropic Filing: Data Center Power Costs Could Limit Model Scaling

Anthropic warned in its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that its ability to build out computing infrastructure could be constrained by energy costs and power availability. The filing states that failure to secure electrical power, regulatory action limiting electricity availability, or a significant increase in energy costs could affect its cost structure and limit its ability to scale compute infrastructure, develop and deploy models, and serve customers.

The filing identifies reliance on natural gas turbines as a specific vulnerability. Anthropic states that competition for electrical supply and data center locations with adequate power is intense, and that some of its planned data centers rely on electricity generated by natural gas turbines on site. The company leases capacity from hyperscalers and announced a $50 billion plan last year to expand data centers in Texas and New York.

Anthropic also points to competition for natural gas and pipeline capacity from hyperscalers and cloud providers building their own facilities, stating that this competition could drive up natural gas prices. The filing notes that if efforts to secure electrical power are perceived to affect other utility customers and the broader grid, regulators may impose conditions, standby charges, or other requirements. Anthropic says that if regulators push data center developers to shoulder more costs for new energy infrastructure, this could raise its operating costs, and that without a secure gas supply and pipelines, it might need to delay or abandon planned data center projects.

The filing also addresses climate-related costs. Anthropic states that rising global temperatures could increase operating costs, as the company would pay more for electricity and water to cool servers as temperatures climb. Gas accounts for 40 percent of US power generation. A recent Texas-based study found that data center electricity demand could raise levels of soot, smog-forming pollutants, and carbon dioxide over the next five years.

Shortages of gas turbines are slowing data center construction, according to the filing's context. Some developers are installing gas engines on site to avoid long wait times to connect to grids, and some are using simpler turbine technology due to backlogs from manufacturers, which makes on-site generation less efficient and more polluting. The United States is planning to build more fossil fuel generation capacity than it has in a decade as data centers demand more electricity.

Anthropic states that it cannot guarantee access to adequate electrical power and that any failure to secure it could limit its ability to scale compute infrastructure.