Google Backs $15B Anthropic Data-Center Deal in Texas, Intensifying AI Infrastructure Competition

Headline: Google Said to Back $15B Anthropic Data-Center Deal in Texas — a Big Moment for Miners Pivoting to AI Google is reportedly stepping in to support a proposed $15 billion financing package for a massive Anthropic-linked data-center campus in Hubbard, Texas — a move that could deepen the AI infrastructure boom and reshape competition for power, chips and tenants that crypto miners have been racing to capture. The deal, still not finalized, is centered on Nexus Data Centers’ planned campus. According to the Wall Street Journal, cited by Reuters, a bank group led by Morgan Stanley is negotiating a package that would include a $14 billion bridge loan plus an unspecified revolving credit facility. Nexus and the banks have not announced a completed transaction. What Google would do - Google has reportedly agreed to guarantee billions in lease and power-payment obligations tied to four Anthropic data-center leases and related power-purchase agreements for an on-site power plant, should Anthropic default. - Those guarantees would be limited to the minimum amounts lenders require to close the financing. - In return, Google is expected to take roughly a 20% equity stake in the combined data-center and power project. - Google’s involvement would span chip arrangements (Anthropic plans to use tensor processing units co-designed by Google and Broadcom, financed separately under a vendor agreement with Broadcom), credit guarantees and an equity position — effectively enlarging Google’s role in Anthropic’s infrastructure even as Anthropic sources processors from other suppliers. Project power and why it matters - Nexus plans to pair the campus with a 1.6 GW natural-gas-fired power plant on site. That on-site generation is designed to secure a large, stable supply of electricity without relying exclusively on new capacity or transmission from the Texas grid. - Electricity access is a core bottleneck for new U.S. AI data centers: AI workloads need continuous, very large power flows, and new grid capacity and lines can take years to permit and build. Google’s guarantees would materially improve the project’s credit profile and make it easier to finance on better terms than Anthropic could alone. Why crypto miners care Several Bitcoin-mining companies have been repurposing or marketing their high-power sites to AI customers; they’ve accumulated grid access and industrial sites that can be retooled for high-performance computing. Recent multibillion-dollar AI and lease deals announced in July illustrate that scramble: - TeraWulf (July 6) — 20-year lease with Anthropic for Justified Data campus in Hawesville, KY: ~401 MW critical IT capacity; ~ $19 billion expected revenue over initial term. - CleanSpark — $6.6 billion lease for Sandersville campus, Georgia: 175 MW (could rise to $11.6 billion if extension options exercised). - Hut 8 (July 20) — 352 MW lease at Beacon Point, Texas: $9.8 billion; brought the property’s base-term lease value to $19.6 billion (renewal options could lift it to $50.2 billion). - IREN — $2.8 billion in multi-year AI cloud contracts; raised year-end annualized AI cloud revenue target above $4 billion (≈85% under contract). - Core Scientific — Agreement giving AMD access to up to 2.5 GW of capacity; initial phase will provide 500 MW of AI-ready infrastructure in 2027 (contract value undisclosed). Market reaction and stakes - Mining and AI-exposed stocks jumped on July 30 amid the flurry of AI deals: IREN +30.7% to $38.26, Hut 8 +22.7% to $108.27, CleanSpark +21.1%, Core Scientific +20.4%, TeraWulf +18.1%. Alphabet shares, by contrast, slipped about 0.9% to $333.66 as investors weigh Google’s expanding infrastructure costs. - Completion of the Nexus financing would establish another valuation benchmark for large, power-backed AI campuses and introduce a mainstream data-center developer into the competition for the same tenants, lenders, chips and electricity that miners are chasing. Bottom line The Nexus-Google-Anthropic structure mirrors other deals where financially stronger tech companies back private AI developers — improving credit profiles and accelerating buildouts. For crypto miners, the financing outcome matters: if it closes, it validates the economics of power-backed AI campuses and intensifies competition for scarce electricity, chips and customers. But the reported terms — the $14 billion bridge loan, the revolving credit size, the exact guarantee structure and Google’s expected 20% stake — remain proposals until banks and Nexus announce a deal.