Anthropic Expected to Top 3.5 GW of Compute Capacity by Year End, With Plans to Double in 2027

Anthropic is on track to exceed 3.5 gigawatts of computing capacity by the end of 2026 and aims to double that figure in 2027, according to a New York Times report. The scale of the build-out underscores how rapidly the AI industry is consuming power and infrastructure resources, and it raises pointed questions about the financial risks of such aggressive expansion amid uncertain demand.

The compute push comes as Anthropic has also filed an IPO prospectus revealing the full scope of its infrastructure commitments. The company's S-1 disclosed total compute obligations approaching $567 billion, with contracts spanning from 2026 through the early 2030s. Compute was identified as Anthropic's single largest operating expense, running at $5.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026 alone. The filing also acknowledged that Anthropic has historically underestimated its own compute requirements, a risk the company flagged could affect future product development and deployment.

Among its suppliers, Anthropic has committed to paying SpaceX approximately $3.1 billion per month for access to capacity at facilities including the Colossus and Colossus 2 sites in Greater Memphis. Google and Broadcom are also key partners, with TPU-based infrastructure underpinning a significant portion of the planned capacity expansion. Anthropic's run-rate revenue has more than tripled since late 2025, but analysts and investors are scrutinizing whether the pace of spending can be sustained given the inherent uncertainty in forecasting AI workloads.