Google backs TeraWulf's Anthropic data centre deal in Kentucky

What happened: TeraWulf said on 4 November it has secured a credit backstop from Alphabet's Google for its data centre project with Anthropic. The site is in Hawesville, Kentucky. Reuters reported the announcement.

The numbers: The campus is expected to generate about $19 billion in contracted revenue and support 401 megawatts of critical IT load. Initial capacity is expected online in the second half of 2027. No dollar figure for Google's backstop has been given.

Why it matters: Reuters places the deal in a wider trend. Large tech firms are providing multi-billion-dollar backstops and guarantees to help smaller AI companies and data centre developers fund AI infrastructure.

The context: TeraWulf signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic for the campus in July 2026, through its subsidiary Raylan Data LLC. Data Center Frontier covered the lease. Google already provides a $3.2 billion financial backstop for TeraWulf's debt. Its equity stake in the company has risen to 14% from 8%. TeraWulf is also lining up about $3.5 billion in debt for the Kentucky campus, which would be its first leveraged-loan financing. An SEC filing said Anthropic's payments would be backed by an investment-grade credit provider. That provider was unnamed until this announcement.

The catch: TeraWulf shares fell about 3% in premarket trading, amid a broader slide in AI data centre stocks. Investors are weighing possible tighter regulation after Democrats gained control of Congress.

The details: TeraWulf also announced an expanded agreement with construction and engineering firm Fluor Enterprises for the Hawesville site.

What's next: Initial capacity is due in the second half of 2027. Earlier coverage says Anthropic is weighing Nvidia GPUs, Amazon Trainium and Google TPUs, with a vendor selection expected within four months. Whether the campus will use Google TPUs has not been confirmed.