Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is nearing a massive agreement to provide construction financing for an artificial intelligence data center project in the state of Texas. Valued at over $5 billion, the massive facility has already been committed to by artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, which previously agreed to lease it to run its advanced models, according to a report published by the Financial Times.
Details of the massive financing deal
The deal, which first surfaced in reports last Thursday, will see Google provide substantial loans to Nexus Data Centers, the developer responsible for the sprawling 2,800-acre complex. Notably, Alphabet will not build the facility itself, instead playing the role of primary financial backer. Its strong credit rating is expected to help a consortium of major banks provide the necessary funding at more favorable interest rates and flexible terms. Expectations point to the closing of construction loans in the next few weeks, amid fierce competition among banks to finance the project’s first phase by the middle of this year.
A strategic partnership beyond cloud services
This new financing arrangement deepens what has become one of the most multi-faceted and influential relationships in the artificial intelligence industry. Currently, Google already supplies Anthropic with custom clusters of Tensor Processing Units via Google Cloud to train its large language models, a financial and technical arrangement valued in the tens of billions of dollars. By supporting the physical infrastructure that will run Anthropic’s massive workloads, Google is evolving from a mere cloud services provider into a core capital partner in the startup’s growth journey. This shift reflects tech giants’ desire to secure a leading position in the AI race by controlling the industry’s primary lifeblood: computing power.
Energy independence and infrastructure
Earlier this month, Anthropic signed a facility lease agreement with Nexus Data Centers. The center is designed to deliver approximately 500 megawatts of power capacity by late 2026, with massive potential for phased expansion to reach about 7.7 gigawatts over time. To avoid total reliance on the public power grid and stave off major price spikes during peak demand periods, the facility plans to operate its own dedicated gas turbines powered by nearby pipelines. This move is seen as highly strategic, as energy consumption has become the greatest challenge facing AI technology developers worldwide.
Texas as an AI infrastructure capital
The deal is the latest in a series of multi-billion-dollar financial commitments to build data centers in Texas. According to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle, the state is on a steady path to become the largest data center market on Earth by 2030. The move follows Google’s announcement in November 2025 of a separate $40 billion investment in three data centers in Texas. That same month, Anthropic unveiled a $50 billion national expansion plan to build data centers starting with facilities in Texas and New York. The momentum did not stop there; last week, Microsoft agreed to lease a 700-megawatt facility in Abilene, Texas, a facility that Oracle and OpenAI recently backed away from.
Future ambitions and astronomical valuations
Separately, Anthropic secured $30 billion in funding last February, elevating its market valuation to a staggering $380 billion. However, the company has not yet disclosed how it will finance all of its sprawling infrastructure ambitions. Similarly, the exact terms of the Google-backed construction loan have not been announced, and Nexus Data Centers has chosen not to comment on the news so far. The coming days will undoubtedly reveal more details about this strategic partnership, which could alter the global computing map.
FAQs
What is the value of the project being financed by Alphabet?
The AI data center project in Texas is valued at over $5 billion.
Which company will lease the new data center?
AI startup Anthropic has committed to leasing the entire facility to run and train its large language models.
How will the data center be powered?
The center will rely on operating its own dedicated gas turbines connected to nearby pipelines to generate power, avoiding reliance on the public grid and price volatility.
What is the power capacity of this facility?
The facility is expected to provide approximately 500 megawatts of power capacity by late 2026, with plans to expand it to about 7.7 gigawatts in the future.
