Meta in talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in potential $10 billion deal

Jul 17, 2026

Meta Platforms is in early talks to lease computing power to AI startup Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion over two years. The move signals Meta's potential entry into cloud computing, a new revenue stream to justify its massive AI infrastructure spending, projected at $145 billion for 2026. The talks highlight the intense demand for computing power that also led Anthropic to a larger $45 billion deal with SpaceX.

AI industry compute scarcity

▪Access to artificial intelligence chips remains a challenge for firms like Anthropic, which places usage limits on its advanced models like Fable

Meta-Anthropic computing deal

▪Meta Platforms Inc. is in early-stage talks to lease computing power to Anthropic PBC
▪Bloomberg News reported in July 2026 that Meta Platforms was building a cloud business to sell excess computing power and host artificial intelligence models for developers
▪Anthropic proposed the deal to Meta in June 2026
▪The negotiations between Meta Platforms and Anthropic are in early stages and may not result in a deal
▪The agreement would allow either company to opt out of the deal early
▪The potential deal could be worth as much as $10 billion over a two-year period
▪Under the proposed terms, Anthropic would pay Meta in monthly increments
▪Both Meta and Anthropic declined to comment on the reported negotiations

Anthropic-SpaceX agreement comparison

▪Anthropic's proposal to Meta was about one-third the size of its agreement with SpaceX
▪Anthropic has also made multibillion-dollar deals with SpaceX and TeraWulf to access computing power
▪In May 2026, Anthropic struck a deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to pay $45 billion over three years for computing power

Meta infrastructure overcapacity

▪Mark Zuckerberg stated in October 2025 that outside firms regularly ask to buy Meta's computing capacity at a premium
▪Meta rents computing capacity from other providers, including a $21 billion agreement with CoreWeave and a $27 billion agreement with Nebius

AI computing power demand

▪Anthropic plans to invest $50 billion in building out its own data centers
▪Anthropic struck a deal in May 2026 to tap the computing power of SpaceX's Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee
▪The growing adoption of advanced AI is increasing the demand for computing capacity

Anthropic compute procurement strategy

▪Anthropic is valued near $1.2 trillion on secondary markets and is preparing for an initial public offering

Meta data center monetization

▪Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in May 2026 that entering the cloud computing business was "definitely on the table."
▪A deal would help Meta diversify its revenue beyond advertising and compete with neocloud firms like CoreWeave
▪A deal could alleviate pressure from investors concerned about Meta's high spending on data centers

AI capital spending skepticism

▪Mark Zuckerberg told employees that Meta's artificial intelligence bets have not yet come to fruition and agent development has not accelerated as expected

Tech industry infrastructure spending

▪Tech giants including Meta, Google, and Microsoft are spending hundreds of billions of dollars building new data centers worldwide
▪This spending has raised concerns on Wall Street about whether such large sums can be justified
▪Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will spend as much as $145 billion in 2026, much of it on AI