Anthropic admits its AI data centers will run on natural gas

Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI, says plainly in its IPO paperwork that its data centers will lean on natural gas. The company filed the document with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. It also warns that this reliance could hurt its own business.

What the filing says

Anthropic says some of its planned data centers will use electricity made by gas turbines on site. A turbine is an engine that burns fuel to spin a generator. Natural gas is mostly methane. The company says competition for power and for sites with enough electricity is intense.

It also expects rivals to compete for the same gas and pipeline space. In its words, that competition could drive up the price of natural gas. Anthropic leases capacity from large cloud companies, but it announced a $50 billion plan last year to expand data centers in Texas and New York.

Why gas, and why now

The US plans to add more fossil fuel power capacity than it has in a decade, as data centers demand more electricity. A shortage of gas turbines is slowing construction. Some developers are installing gas engines on site to skip long waits to connect to the power grid.

There is a trade-off. Because of backlogs at turbine makers, developers are turning to simpler turbine technology. That makes on-site power less efficient and more polluting.

Who it affects

• Utility customers: rising costs are already a worry as utilities upgrade equipment to meet demand.
• Neighbors of data centers: one Texas-based study found demand could erase decades of air quality gains over five years.
• Anthropic: higher heat means higher electricity and water costs to cool servers.

Gas supplies 40 percent of US electricity. Residents have blocked dozens of proposed data centers across the country. Anthropic notes that if its power plans are seen as hurting other utility customers, regulators may add conditions or standby charges.

What happens next

Anthropic says that without a secure gas supply and pipelines to carry it, it might have to delay or abandon planned projects. It also says any failure to secure enough power, or any big rise in energy or compliance costs, could limit its ability to grow.

The material does not say how many sites would use on-site gas, or how much power they would produce. Those details are not known yet.