Issue #20
2 September 2026
Editor's Note
The Anthropic figure this week is genuinely staggering. $517 billion in compute agreements signed in eleven months. To put that in context, Anthropic's annualised revenue is around $65 billion. The company is committing to infrastructure at a scale that dwarfs its current income, and it is doing so across AWS, Google, Microsoft, SpaceX, nScale, Lambda, Volta, AMD, and others simultaneously. This is not a company cautiously testing the water. It is one of the most aggressive infrastructure procurement campaigns in the history of the technology industry, covering 14.8GW of compute capacity across multiple providers and geographies.
What makes this more interesting is the timing. Earlier in 2026, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei publicly warned competitors that they were investing too fast without understanding the risks. Anthropic is now arguably moving faster than any of them. That kind of reversal usually means something significant changed in the demand picture. The infrastructure being locked in here will need to be built, powered, and operated by real people in real facilities. The downstream implications for the data center industry, and for the talent needed to deliver it, are significant.
Humain breaking ground at NEOM's Oxagon site this week is also worth noting. Parts of one of the world's most scrutinised development projects are moving from announcement to construction.
North America
- Anthropic signed $517bn in compute agreements in past 11 months
$517 billion in compute commitments from a company with $65 billion in annualised revenue. This is one of the clearest signals yet of how seriously frontier AI labs are treating infrastructure as a competitive advantage. Every gigawatt of capacity committed here needs to be built, powered, and staffed.
- Meta's $1.2bn data center in Kuna, Idaho, goes live
A $1.2 billion facility coming online in Kuna, Idaho is another example of the consistent push into markets outside the primary hubs. Power availability and land economics made it a logical choice and it is now operational.
- Palantir selects Nebius as sovereign AI infrastructure provider
Palantir choosing Nebius as its preferred infrastructure partner for commercial customers signals where enterprise demand is heading. For Nebius it is a significant customer channel across Palantir's existing relationships, and for the broader market it points to a growing segment that wants AI capability without the data sovereignty trade-offs that come with the major hyperscalers.
EMEA
- Pure starts work on second building at Brent Cross campus in London, UK
A second building at Brent Cross reflects strong and sustained demand in a market where new supply is genuinely limited. London remains one of EMEA's most sought after data center locations despite its constraints.
- Why Equinix & CPP Investments Have Acquired AtNorth
A pension fund and the world's largest colocation operator acquiring a Nordic specialist together is a well structured deal. ATNorth's renewable energy credentials and available capacity are exactly what both parties need as sustainability commitments tighten.
- Humain breaks ground on Neom’s Oxagon data center
A data center breaking ground at one of the world's most watched development projects signals real momentum in Saudi Arabia's AI infrastructure ambitions. The Gulf continues to move from announcement to delivery.
Asia Pacific
- Firmus to provide OpenAI with compute capacity in Malaysia
OpenAI sourcing compute capacity in Southeast Asia reflects growing demand for regional infrastructure outside the US. Malaysia is establishing itself as a credible location for serious AI workloads.
- GLP begins development of 200MW data center in Foshan, China
China's domestic AI infrastructure build-out continues at scale. GLP is one of the region's most active developers and a 200MW project in Foshan adds to a significant and growing pipeline.
- Goodman Group gets green light for 135MW data center in northern Sydney, Australia
Planning approvals in Australia's established markets remain competitive. Goodman securing this permit reflects both the strength of demand and the difficulty of getting projects through in constrained urban locations.
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