A major player in the field of artificial intelligence, Anthropic, has proposed to Meta Corporation to lease computing power worth up to $10 billion. The potential agreement is designed for two years, and the initiative was sent back in June of this year. Meta is currently considering this proposal, with a format of monthly payments and the possibility of early exit for both parties being discussed. However, the final terms have not yet been agreed upon, and the process is complicated by Meta's lack of a ready-made business for selling computing resources.
For Meta, this agreement opens up an opportunity to diversify revenue beyond the traditional advertising model. The company could compete with cloud providers such as CoreWeave and Nebius, from which it currently leases capacity. Recall that in April, Meta signed a $21 billion contract with CoreWeave, and in March, a $27 billion contract with Nebius. In May, Mark Zuckerberg noted that external companies regularly express interest in purchasing computing equipment from Meta, but the corporation has not yet sold it due to its own needs, although it does not rule out such an option in the future.
Investors are increasingly criticizing Meta for its massive spending on AI infrastructure. Selling excess capacity could help justify these investments. The company acknowledges that it may build more data centers than it needs, and its capital expenditures in 2026 could reach $145 billion — more than double last year's $72 billion. Meta is also currently strengthening its cloud team, which has already been joined by former Amazon Web Services top manager Dave Brown.
Technology giants are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data centers, raising questions on Wall Street about the justification for such spending. Due to supply shortages, the cost of computing power has risen sharply, and resource scarcity is forcing AI companies to negotiate even with direct competitors. Demand for capacity at Anthropic is growing amid the popularity of the Claude Code product. Earlier, the startup concluded a similar deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX worth $45 billion for three years — $1.25 billion per month, utilizing the Colossus 1 data center in Memphis.
Analytical conclusion: This deal, if it goes through, will become a landmark precedent in the AI infrastructure market. It not only confirms the acute shortage of computing resources but also demonstrates how large corporations are forced to reconsider their business models, transforming from pure consumers into capacity providers. For Meta, this could be a strategic step that reduces pressure from investors and strengthens its position in the cloud ecosystem, but the risks associated with scaling this direction remain high.