Google nears deal to help finance multibillion-dollar data centre leased to Anthropic

Google plans to throw its financial support behind a multibillion-dollar data centre project in Texas, leased to Anthropic, as it builds out its infrastructure deal with the AI lab.

Backing from Google, expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, would include the search giant offering construction loans for Nexus Data Centers, the site's operator, according to people familiar with the matter.

A consortium of banks was meanwhile competing to provide financing by mid-year for the initial phase of the project, which could total more than $5bn, the people said.

Support from Google's parent Alphabet should allow the project to raise the financing at a lower cost, given its strong credit rating, the people added.

The 2,800-acre data centre campus was part of Google's partnership with Anthropic, which signed a lease with Nexus earlier this month, the people said.

The deepening of partnership comes despite Anthropic's stand-off with the Trump administration over the terms for military use of its technology. The Pentagon had tried to bar the AI start-up from doing business with partners that have military contracts, but has faced legal setbacks.

Google and Anthropic declined to comment. Nexus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Construction is already under way at the Texas site, which received early-stage debt from asset manager Eagle Point.

It is expected to deliver about 500 megawatts of capacity as soon as late 2026, equivalent to the power consumption of half a million homes. The campus could eventually expand to about 7.7 gigawatts, the people added.

A significant benefit of the location is its proximity to several major gas pipelines operated by companies, including Enterprise, Energy Transfer and Atmos, which could allow Nexus to power the site with its own gas turbines.

This should allow the data centre to avoid surge pricing from one energy source during peak hours, one of the people said.

Data centre developers are increasingly focused on reducing their reliance on grid connections, which can be time-consuming and expensive to secure.

So-called behind-the-metre power is growing in popularity among Big Tech groups amid pressure from local communities and politicians, who worry that large data centres will strain power and water supply and raise utility prices.

Elon Musk's Colossus data centres in Tennessee and Mississippi use off-grid gas turbines, and hyperscalers such as Microsoft and Amazon are also attached to large behind-the-meter projects.

According to research provider Cleanview, data centre developers announced 50 gigawatts of behind-the-meter projects in 2025.

Meta on Friday announced a deal with energy company Entergy Louisiana to pay for seven new gas power plants and other infrastructure to support the social media company's vast data centre project in the state.

However, critics note that data centres still contribute to overall demand for power and fuel even when companies have their own generating capacity.

Most data centre developers ultimately seek a grid connection for reliability and cost reasons. Behind-the-meter power with gas turbines, renewables and technologies such as fuel cells are seen as a bridge solution until new power plants and transmission lines are built, and grid operators can clear large interconnection backlogs.

Energy usage from data centres in Texas could reach 78GW by 2031, or about 36 per cent of the state's total power demand, according to estimates by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Enterprise, Energy Transfer and Atmos did not respond to requests for comment.

Additional reporting by George Hammond