The digital infrastructure company TeraWulf announced on Monday that it has signed a 20-year data center lease agreement with the leading artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, valued at approximately $19 billion. This news has driven a significant increase in TeraWulf's share price during pre-market trading.

The data center is located in Hancock County, Kentucky, on the former site of an aluminum smelter operated by Century Aluminum, allowing it to utilize existing power infrastructure. According to the agreement, the facility's capacity will be progressively increased to approximately 400 megawatts by early 2028, which is sufficient to meet the electricity needs of around 300,000 households. TeraWulf's CEO, Paul Prager, stated that this agreement establishes a framework for future expansion and fully validates the company's capabilities in securing power, developing infrastructure, and obtaining long-term customer commitments.

As the developer of the Claude platform, Anthropic recently completed a $65 billion Series H funding round at a valuation of $965 billion, making it the world's highest-valued AI startup. This lease agreement will provide crucial large-scale computing power to support the ongoing expansion of its enterprise-level AI services.

TeraWulf anticipates that the development of this data center will itself involve an investment of $4 billion. The company had previously estimated that the tenant would also commit over $10 billion in additional investment for facility construction.

However, the project is facing some community opposition. A petition calling for a halt to the project has garnered over 1,200 signatures, as local residents continue to express concerns regarding infrastructure strain and environmental impact. TeraWulf has stated it is collaborating with local stakeholders and community members to ensure the project proceeds in a responsible manner.