Google is backstopping the deal with its investment-grade credit rating, and is expected to receive an equity stake of about 20% in the project
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Alphabet $GOOGL's Google agreed to backstop Anthropic's obligations using its investment-grade credit rating, according to CNBC. Those guarantees extend to four Anthropic data-center leases and the associated power-purchase agreements tied to an on-site natural-gas plant with 1.6 gigawatts of generating capacity, according to Reuters. Google's backing was limited to the minimum level required by lenders to complete the financing.
The deal is structured as a $14 billion bridge loan paired with a revolving credit facility, according to Reuters. In exchange for its support, Google is expected to receive an equity stake of about 20% in the data-center and power project.
For the Hubbard campus, Anthropic intends to deploy tensor processing units — co-developed by Google and Broadcom $AVGO — with the chip costs covered under a dedicated vendor-financing arrangement that Anthropic has reached with Broadcom.
Anthropic has pursued a range of infrastructure partnerships this year. Those deals include an arrangement with Advanced Micro Devices earlier this month, an agreement with Elon Musk's SpaceX in May, and a partnership with Google and Broadcom in April.
Google's involvement with Anthropic predates this deal. In April, Google agreed to invest up to $40 billion in the AI startup, building on earlier investments that included $300 million for a roughly 10% stake in 2023 and an additional $2 billion shortly after. Google has also been expanding its broader data center infrastructure, including a dark fiber agreement with Verizon $VZ worth more than $1 billion.
Anthropic and Nexus Data Centers declined to comment. Google and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment.
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