Anthropic explored major NSW data centre buildout

Internal NSW government emails show Anthropic was interested in building up to 5 gigawatts of AI data centre capacity in NSW alone. The proposed scale would be three times the size of Australia’s entire data centre infrastructure and would require tens of billions of dollars in investment, according to the report.

The documents show Infrastructure NSW discussed Anthropic’s interest ahead of a planned senior-level meeting during CEO Dario Amodei’s visit to Australia. Anthropic and NSW Investment declined to comment, while adviser John Garnaut said he works with AI firms but did not make the specific request. The ABC reported in June that Anthropic wanted 5GW of new Australian computing capacity by 2030, with a longer-term goal of 20GW.

Data Centre Australia says the country currently has 1.6GW of computing capacity and projects that figure will reach 3.9GW by 2030. NSW has announced new energy, water, environmental and community requirements for data centres, with qualifying projects promised development application assessments within 75 days. National cabinet is considering broader rules as governments seek investment while addressing community concerns over power, water and local impacts.