Anthropic, the prominent AI model developer, will pay an average of approximately $11.3 billion annually to this UK-based startup for computing power over the next six years.
According to a Bloomberg report on August 4th, citing anonymous sources, US AI giant Anthropic has inked a $100 billion (approximately ¥679 billion) computing power contract with the UK-based AI infrastructure unicorn Volta Infra Holdings. The deal spans a six-year period. On the same day, Volta publicly announced a $10 billion contract with a "leading AI lab" but did not disclose the client's name.
Volta also revealed plans to partner with Bitdeer Technologies Group on building an AI factory in Norway. This facility will have a total deployment capacity of 133MW and will be equipped with Nvidia's Vera Rubin system. Currently, both Anthropic and project partner Bitdeer have declined to comment on the specifics.
Founded in January 2026, Volta emerged from stealth mode on August 4th, simultaneously announcing the completion of a $300 million (approximately ¥20.4 billion) funding round. This round values the company at $2.4 billion (approximately ¥163 billion) and includes investments from NVIDIA and Dell, alongside venture capital firms like a16z and Altimeter Capital. This seven-month-old startup is not merely a cloud computing provider; it integrates institutional capital, power resources, data centers, AI chips, software, and operations into a single platform. Volta believes that the primary constraint on AI companies building dedicated computing power is no longer demand, electricity, or chips, but rather financing.
Anthropic Reportedly Signs 6-Year Computing Power Deal Totaling $100 Billion
In a press release on August 4th, Volta confirmed a $100 billion (approximately ¥679 billion) strategic partnership with an unnamed AI lab. The collaboration involves building an "AI factory" in Norway with Bitdeer. Volta stated that the Norwegian data center will have a total power supply capacity of 133MW and will deploy Nvidia's Vera Rubin system. The company did not reveal the client's identity or the contract's duration for the $100 billion deal. However, Bloomberg reported yesterday, citing sources, that the project is with Anthropic, the developer of the Claude model, with a contract period of six years. Based on the total contract value, Anthropic will pay an average of about $16.7 billion (approximately ¥113 billion) annually over the partnership. Bloomberg did not disclose the project's delivery timeline, computing power scale, or specific payment terms. Anthropic is actively accelerating its computing power resources. Bloomberg noted that the company has already signed computing power agreements with SpaceX, AMD, and cloud computing firm Akamai, and is discussing leasing Meta's data centers. On May 28, 2026, Anthropic raised $65 billion (approximately ¥441.4 billion) to cover model development and infrastructure expenses. Bloomberg also reports that the company is considering an IPO as early as 2026.
Volta Raises $2 Billion, Valued at $16.3 Billion, with Nvidia and Dell as Investors
Volta was founded by CEO Ricard Boada and Chief Corporate Development Officer Sofia Gumuzio, both of whom previously worked in the infrastructure business at Brookfield Asset Management. Co-founder and CEO Boada served as a Senior Vice President at Brookfield, where he led global AI infrastructure investments and was heavily involved in multi-billion-dollar acquisitions of data centers and communication infrastructure. He also previously worked in infrastructure investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Co-founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer Gumuzio has an engineering background. She began her career as a financial analyst in M&A at Spanish alternative asset manager Azora, before a long tenure at Brookfield Asset Management focusing on AI infrastructure and real estate investments, where she was deeply involved in heavy-asset infrastructure investment deals. Volta's official statement confirms that it has completed seed and Series A funding rounds, achieving a post-money valuation of $2.4 billion (approximately ¥163 billion). The funding round was co-led by a16z and Altimeter, with participation from NVIDIA and Dell founder Michael Dell. Bloomberg's August 4th report revealed that the funding amount was $300 million (approximately ¥20.4 billion). a16z has previously made fewer investments in "new cloud" and AI data center startups. The firm's managing partner, Raghu Raghuram, stated that the founding team's experience in project financing and securing power resources was a key reason for the investment. Dell Technologies will serve as Volta's technology partner, providing equipment for the data centers. Earlier in 2026, Volta also acquired the technology of Genesis Cloud, gaining public AI cloud and bare-metal cluster management software. Currently, Volta employs approximately 100 people across offices in London, Palo Alto, and New York.
A $5 Billion Capital Pool Lowers the Barrier to Entry for Chips; Volta Treats Computing Power as Infrastructure Financing
Large tech companies can use their balance sheets to purchase AI chips, but AI labs and smaller startups often struggle with the high upfront costs. Volta aims to change this by introducing infrastructure capital, allowing clients to secure dedicated computing power through long-term contracts. Volta has established an AI infrastructure initiative with Spanish asset manager Azora. Azora will organize funds from multiple banks, providing Volta's clients with $5 billion (approximately ¥340 billion) in financing. This capital is non-dilutive infrastructure capital, meaning Volta does not need to issue new shares to obtain it. Institutional investors fund the construction of AI factories and receive returns from the cash flow generated by clients' long-term contracts. Volta is responsible for securing power and land, building data centers, deploying chips, providing software, and operating the computing power, while clients pay through multi-year contracts. Boada describes computing power as a new type of infrastructure asset, hoping that in the future, it can be supplied and priced as stably as electricity. Volta's CEO also told Bloomberg that the company has recently secured a total of 1GW of power supply for its data centers. Additionally, Volta plans to develop new sites in Texas and Wyoming, with a goal of deploying several GW of computing power by 2030. Bitdeer, the partner for the Norwegian project, was originally primarily a Bitcoin mining company. As Bitcoin prices decline and mining operations face pressure, miners like Bitdeer are converting some of their data centers with existing power and space into AI infrastructure. According to Bitdeer's monthly operational update on July 21st, the company plans to convert some of its cryptocurrency data centers in Texas, Tennessee, and Washington. Bloomberg reported that following the news of the $100 billion contract, Bitdeer's stock price rose nearly 10% in pre-market trading on August 4th. As of press time, Bitdeer's stock price was up 2.81% in after-hours trading.
Anthropic and OpenAI Expand Computing Power Through Long-Term Orders; Chipmakers and Financial Institutions Join the Fray
Volta's model is not unique. According to a Financial Times report yesterday, Broadcom is collaborating with Apollo and Blackstone to provide financial support for Anthropic's procurement of Google's TPUs. Bloomberg's August 4th report also noted that AI cloud service provider CoreWeave is using various strategies to raise funds for purchasing NVIDIA chips, including leveraging the high credit ratings of clients like Meta Platforms to secure financing. Furthermore, a Bloomberg report on July 27th indicated that NVIDIA is planning to fund Open AI's 10GW mega data center project. The overall scale of OpenAI's project could reach $500 billion (approximately ¥3.40 trillion), with NVIDIA potentially providing financial support for OpenAI's $350 billion (approximately ¥2.38 trillion) chip procurement. These arrangements create tighter dependencies between chip suppliers, cloud computing companies, financial institutions, and AI labs. A chip company invests in a cloud service provider, the cloud service provider purchases chips, and then uses the AI lab's long-term contract to secure loans. Some transactions have therefore been questioned as "circular financing." Jamin Ball, a partner at US tech investment firm Altimeter, predicts that the AI infrastructure market will eventually see significant consolidation and elimination. If demand declines, companies lacking stable clients, capital, and supply chain support will be the first to feel the pressure.
Conclusion: Computing Power Procurement Shifts from a Technology Competition to a Capital Competition; Financing Capability Becomes Key
Volta securing a multi-billion dollar contract just months after its founding demonstrates that the AI infrastructure competition is no longer solely about chips and electricity. As model training and inference demands continue to grow, AI labs, chipmakers, cloud service providers, and financial institutions are building a new computing power supply system through long-term contracts. Examples like Anthropic purchasing Volta's computing power, Google and Broadcom bringing in capital for TPU deployment, and NVIDIA participating in AI data center construction all show that computing power is transforming from a purely technical resource into a type of infrastructure that requires financial backing. The ability to design financing structures, secure long-term capital, and lock in top-tier clients is becoming a critical condition for the expansion of new cloud service providers. As more capital flows into the AI infrastructure sector, the next phase of the computing power race will not only be about who has more chips, but also about who can obtain and operate computing power at a lower cost and with greater stability.
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