Anthropic has unveiled a landmark partnership with Google and Broadcom, securing multiple gigawatts of next-generation computing capacity set to come online in 2027. This significant commitment marks the company's most substantial to date, driven by an accelerated revenue growth that has reached a $30 billion annual run rate, up from $9 billion in 2025. The substantial scale of AI computing demand now directly competes with bitcoin mining for the same scarce resources, including grid connections, land permits, cooling infrastructure, and affordable electricity.
According to estimates, bitcoin mining globally consumes between 13 to 25 gigawatts of continuous power, depending on hardware efficiency. Anthropic's acquisition of multiple gigawatts, in addition to its existing capacity across various platforms, underscores the rapid emergence of AI as a major competitor for the energy infrastructure that miners rely on.
Furthermore, the aggregate AI compute buildout has become one of the largest sources of new electricity demand in the United States, coinciding with bitcoin miners' decisions on whether to mine bitcoin or rent their infrastructure to AI companies. This decision is increasingly skewed towards renting to AI companies, as evidenced by Core Scientific's conversion of significant mining capacity to AI hosting and similar expansions by other companies.
The revenue generated by renting infrastructure to AI companies often surpasses that of mining, especially considering the fluctuating bitcoin prices and network difficulty. While this shift does not signify the demise of bitcoin mining, the surviving miners may evolve into infrastructure companies that mine bitcoin as a secondary activity, leveraging their primary asset – affordable power at scale – to meet the insatiable demand of the AI industry.