Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has signed a 20-year lease agreement valued at an estimated $19 billion with AI infrastructure provider TeraWulf, securing dedicated computing capacity for its rapidly expanding Claude AI models. This underscores the growing race to build AI infrastructure in the United States.
Under the agreement, Anthropic will lease up to 401 megawatts of AI computing capacity at TeraWulf’s data center campus in Hawesville, Kentucky. Initial operations are expected to begin in late 2027, with full capacity coming online in early 2028. The long-term contract is projected to generate approximately $19 billion in revenue for TeraWulf over its duration.
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The announcement sent TeraWulf shares sharply higher, with the stock climbing as much as 18% during trading before paring some gains. Other AI infrastructure and “neocloud” companies, including CoreWeave, IREN, Hut 8 and Riot Platforms, also advanced as investors viewed the deal as another sign of surging demand for specialized AI data centers. The agreement marks another milestone in TeraWulf’s transformation from a bitcoin mining company into an AI infrastructure provider. The company has increasingly repurposed its power assets and data center expertise to serve artificial intelligence developers seeking reliable, large-scale computing capacity.
Alongside the Anthropic announcement, TeraWulf said it plans to sell its majority stake in a 168-megawatt AI data center joint venture in Texas for approximately $450 million, allowing the company to focus on wholly owned AI infrastructure projects. Chief Executive Paul Prager said the strategy centers on owning critical infrastructure while maintaining direct relationships with major AI customers.
READ: Trump administration reverses restrictions on Anthropic AI models (July 1, 2026)
Anthropic has emerged as one of the leading developers of generative AI models through its Claude chatbot and enterprise AI platform. Backed by Amazon and Google, the company has been expanding its computing footprint to meet growing demand from businesses deploying generative AI applications.
The latest agreement also highlights the rapid evolution of the AI cloud market, where specialized providers known as “neoclouds” compete alongside hyperscale cloud companies by offering dedicated GPU infrastructure for AI workloads. Companies such as CoreWeave and IREN have similarly benefited from the surge in enterprise AI spending. The deal reflects the industry’s continued shift toward long-term infrastructure commitments as AI developers seek guaranteed access to computing power amid sustained demand for advanced AI training and inference.