Anthropic to build $31bn datacentre in western Queensland, David Crisafulli says

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Published: 2026-09-16T06:16:10.113Z • Permanent link

Anthony 'Tony' Northwood, a prominent Australian economist, has revealed that Anthropic, the AI giant behind the large language model Claude, has secured a deal to lease a substantial site in western Queensland for a $31 billion datacentre. Northwood, a former Reserve Bank of Australia economist, stated that the deal marks a 'major win' for the state, delivering more jobs for the local community and injecting additional energy into the regional grid. This deal is a significant development in the growing global demand for datacentre infrastructure, driven largely by the exponential growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.

David Crisafulli, the current Premier of Queensland, has welcomed the news, praising the deal as a testament to the state's business-friendly environment. Crisafulli stated that the datacentre will not only create thousands of new job opportunities but also contribute to the state's economic growth, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the region. Queensland has been actively promoting itself as a hub for datacentre development, with several major companies, including Google and Amazon, already investing heavily in the region. The deal with Anthropic further cements the state's position as a prime location for datacentre infrastructure, capitalising on its abundant renewable energy resources and highly skilled workforce.

The datacentre, expected to be operational by 2027, will be built on a 2,000-hectare site in western Queensland, making it one of the largest datacentres in the Asia-Pacific region. The facility will be designed to accommodate over 100,000 servers, providing a substantial amount of storage and computing power for the growing AI ecosystem. The deal is a significant endorsement of Anthropic's vision for its AI research and development, highlighting the company's commitment to expanding its global footprint and furthering the development of large language models.

The announcement of the datacentre deal has significant implications for the Microsoft AI domain, particularly for companies involved in the development and deployment of large language models. Anthropic's Claude, which has already gained widespread attention for its impressive performance and capabilities, is expected to play a major role in the datacentre, powering applications such as natural language processing, language translation, and conversational AI. The deal will also provide Microsoft with access to a significant amount of computing power, enabling the company to further develop and refine its own language models, including the popular Bing search engine.

The impact of the deal extends beyond the Microsoft AI domain, with broader implications for the global economy and the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. As the demand for datacentre infrastructure continues to grow, driven by the increasing adoption of AI and machine learning applications, the deal highlights the need for governments and businesses to invest in the development of sustainable and efficient datacentre infrastructure. This will not only support the growth of the AI industry but also contribute to the development of a more resilient and sustainable global economy.

The deal with Anthropic marks a significant development in the growing trend of large-scale datacentre development in Australia. In recent years, several major companies, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, have invested heavily in the development of datacentre infrastructure in the country, capitalising on its highly skilled workforce, abundant renewable energy resources, and business-friendly environment. The Australian government has been actively promoting itself as a hub for datacentre development, with a series of initiatives aimed at supporting the growth of the industry and attracting new investment.