Tera Wulf signs a US$19 billion data center lease with Anthropic, and its stock price rises in response
Digital infrastructure company TeraWulf announced on Monday that it has signed a 20-year data center lease agreement with Anthropic, a leader in artificial intelligence, worth approximately US$19 billion. Boosted by the news, TeraWulf's stock price rose sharply in pre-market trading. The data center is located in Hancock County, Kentucky, on the site of Century Aluminum's former aluminum electrolytic plant, leveraging existing power infrastructure. According to the agreement, the facility's capacity will be gradually increased to approximately 400 megawatts by early 2028, enough to meet the electricity needs of approximately 300,000 households. Paul Prager, CEO of TeraWulf, said that this agreement sets aside a framework for future expansion and fully validates the company's ability to obtain power, develop infrastructure and obtain long-term customer commitments. Anthropic, the developer of the Claude platform, recently completed a $65 billion Series H round of financing at a valuation of $965 billion, making it the world's most valuable artificial intelligence start-up. This lease agreement will provide it with critical large-scale computing power support to meet its continued expansion needs for enterprise-level AI services. TeraWulf estimates that the data center development itself will involve an investment of $4 billion. According to previous estimates by the company, tenants will invest more than $10 billion in additional facilities. However, the project has also faced some community resistance. A petition calling for a halt to the project has gained more than 1,200 signatures, and local residents' concerns about infrastructure pressure and environmental impacts continue to simmer. TeraWulf said it is working with local stakeholders and community members to ensure the project is progressed in a responsible manner.