Anthropic has unveiled a partnership with Google and Broadcom for the development of multiple gigawatts of next-generation TPU computing capacity, slated to become operational starting in 2027. This commitment marks the company's most substantial undertaking to date, driven by an accelerated revenue growth that has reached a $30 billion annual run rate, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025. The scale of AI computing demand now directly competes with bitcoin mining for the same limited resources, including grid connections, land permits, cooling infrastructure, and affordable electricity.
According to a Cambridge tracker, bitcoin mining globally consumes approximately 13 to 25 gigawatts of continuous power, depending on hardware efficiency assumptions. Anthropic's acquisition of multiple gigawatts from a single deal, in addition to its existing capacity across AWS Trainium, Google TPUs, and Nvidia GPUs, highlights the rapid emergence of AI as a peer-level competitor for the same 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 the decision of bitcoin miners to either mine bitcoin or rent their infrastructure to AI companies.
This decision is increasingly favoring the latter, as evidenced by Core Scientific's conversion of significant mining capacity to AI hosting through a deal with CoreWeave, and the expansion of AI and high-performance computing revenue by Iris Energy and Hut 8. The economics of mining are becoming less sustainable, with Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, and Genius Group disclosing the sale of over 19,000 BTC from their treasuries last week.
A bitcoin miner operating a gigawatt of capacity earns fluctuating revenue tied to bitcoin's price and network difficulty, whereas renting the same capacity to an AI company yields a contracted rate with predictable cash flows. At current prices and difficulty levels, the AI rental often provides better compensation. The revenue numbers behind the expansion are telling, with Anthropic reporting that the number of business customers spending over $1 million annually on Claude has doubled from 500 to over 1,000 in less than two months.
While this does not signify the demise of bitcoin mining, the industry's landscape is evolving, with miners potentially transitioning from energy companies focused on producing bitcoin to infrastructure companies that mine bitcoin while renting their primary asset – affordable power at scale – to an AI industry struggling to build data centers quickly enough.