Anthropic has announced a landmark partnership with Google and Broadcom to secure multiple gigawatts of next-generation TPU compute capacity, slated to come online starting in 2027. This significant commitment underscores the company's rapid revenue growth, which has accelerated to a $30 billion annual run rate from $9 billion at the end of 2025. The AI sector's escalating demand for compute power is now directly competing with bitcoin mining for the same limited resources, including grid connections, land permits, cooling infrastructure, and affordable electricity.
According to estimates, bitcoin mining globally draws approximately 13 to 25 gigawatts of continuous power, depending on hardware efficiency. Anthropic's procurement of multiple gigawatts, in addition to its existing capacity across various platforms, highlights the rapid emergence of AI as a major competitor for the energy infrastructure that miners rely on.
The aggregate buildout of AI compute capacity is becoming one of the largest sources of new electricity demand in the United States, coinciding with bitcoin miners' decisions on whether to mine or rent their infrastructure to AI companies. An increasing number of miners are opting to rent their infrastructure, with companies like Core Scientific, Iris Energy, and Hut 8 expanding their AI and high-performance computing revenue.
This shift is driven by the fact that renting infrastructure to AI companies often generates more predictable and lucrative cash flows than mining bitcoin. As the bitcoin network's hashrate continues to reach record levels, the miners that survive the current cycle may need to adapt and transform into infrastructure companies that mine bitcoin while renting their primary asset – affordable power at scale – to the rapidly expanding AI industry.