Observed Signal · Sep 18, 2026 · Policy Update · Source: CNBC Technology · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Positive
AI Infrastructure Market: Anthropic and OpenAI pursue smaller data center capacity deals
Anthropic and OpenAI are reportedly exploring smaller data center capacity agreements, ranging from 20 to 30 MW, to accelerate deployment of AI workloads across the U.S., U.K., and Nordics. Sources told CNBC that both companies are seeking faster 'speed to usable capacity' from existing powered sites, as large-scale gigawatt projects face community and infrastructural pushback. The shift reflects a growing focus on inference workloads, which can be served by smaller clusters. OpenAI surpassed its Stargate commitment of 10 GW and is adding capacity in Georgia and Ohio, while Anthropic recently signed a $45 billion cloud deal with Nscale. Smaller deployments are seen as practical alternatives to large projects, allowing quicker deployment and flexibility.
Major AI labs are shifting to smaller data center deals to accelerate deployment, signaling a significant trend in infrastructure strategy that impacts AI capacity and inference scaling across the industry.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Anthropic and OpenAI are pursuing small-scale data center deals of 20-30 MW capacity.
- Anthropic has explored agreements in the U.K. and Nordics, while OpenAI has eyed Nordic opportunities.
- OpenAI announced it exceeded its 10 GW Stargate commitment and is adding 3 GW in Georgia and 8 GW in Ohio.
- Anthropic signed a $45 billion cloud deal with Nscale for about 460 MW capacity in West Virginia.
- Inference workloads are projected to use 37% of data center capacity by 2030, up from 9% in 2025.
Connected Companies & Entities
4 Entities mappedNscale
Integrated GPU cloud, AI data centres and power infrastructure provider.
“Anthropic inked a roughly $45 billion cloud deal with Nscale....”
Anthropic
Foundation model company selling AI assistants and model APIs.
“Anthropic and OpenAI are hunting for smaller AI data center deals, sources told CNBC....”
NVIDIA
Accelerated computing company spanning AI software, cloud and gaming.
“Nvidia would collaborate with several data center stakeholders to study smaller-scale data centers....”
OpenAI
Foundation model company selling AI software, APIs and subscriptions.
“OpenAI had been exploring opportunities for those smaller capacity deployments in the Nordics....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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