Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm behind the large language model Claude, has secured a deal to lease land for its first Australian data centre in western Queensland, state Premier David Crisafulli announced on Wednesday. The project, valued at approximately A$31.9 billion, is set to become the largest data centre of its kind in Australia.
The proposed facility will be located within the Western Downs digital park near Dalby, northwest of Toowoomba. Developed by Singapore-based Zerra DC, the digital park will be connected to the Braemar power station. The first stage of the multi-phase project is scheduled to open next year, with plans for four stages outlined in planning documents recently submitted to the Western Downs regional council. However, final approval from the council is still pending.
Anthropic’s portion of the project will occupy around 725.5 hectares of land, which currently includes a feedlot. Western Downs Mayor Andrew Smith emphasized that the council will conduct a thorough assessment of the proposal, with timing dependent on various factors such as referral requirements, requests for additional information, and community consultation through public notification. He stressed that the development must contribute energy generation to the local grid, help reduce power costs for Queensland residents, protect water resources, and respect the surrounding communities. Smith highlighted that community input would be integral to the approval process, similar to other infrastructure projects like wind farms, solar installations, and battery facilities.
Premier Crisafulli credited his interactions with Anthropic during a trade mission for securing the investment, highlighting Queensland’s energy security and streamlined approval process as key incentives. “To have secured Anthropic’s first major investment in Australia is a massive show of confidence in Queensland,” he told parliament, noting the project’s potential to create jobs and enhance the state’s energy infrastructure.
The Queensland data centre is intended primarily for AI inference tasks—processing and responding to queries—rather than training Anthropic’s AI models, according to available information.
Earlier this year, Anthropic signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian federal government. The national government is currently considering proposals that would allow AI companies default access to the works of Australian creatives, a move that has attracted criticism from independent Senator David Pocock, who argued it risks disadvantaging creatives in pursuit of data centre funding.
Amid ongoing concerns about the rapid development of artificial intelligence, Anthropic’s Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei reiterated a call on Tuesday for a slowdown in AI advancements.