Anthropic has announced a landmark partnership with Google and Broadcom to develop 'multiple gigawatts' of next-generation TPU compute capacity, expected to come online starting in 2027. This commitment marks the company's most significant to date, with revenue growth accelerating to a $30 billion annual run rate from $9 billion at the end of 2025.
The scale of AI compute demand now directly competes with bitcoin mining for scarce resources such as grid connections, land permits, cooling infrastructure, and affordable electricity. A deal of this magnitude signifies the rapid rise of AI as a major competitor for the same energy infrastructure that miners rely on. With Anthropic securing multiple gigawatts and other companies like OpenAI expanding their infrastructure, the aggregate AI compute buildout has become one of the largest sources of new electricity demand in the United States.
This development coincides with bitcoin miners deciding whether to mine bitcoin or rent their infrastructure to AI companies, with an increasing trend towards the latter. The decision is driven by the fact that renting infrastructure to AI companies often yields more predictable and lucrative cash flows than mining bitcoin. As energy costs rise and bitcoin's price fluctuates, the revenue from renting to AI companies has become a more attractive option for many miners. While this shift does not signify the demise of bitcoin mining, it may lead to a transformation in the industry, with miners evolving into infrastructure companies that happen to mine bitcoin while renting their primary asset – affordable power at scale – to the rapidly expanding AI industry.