MENLO PARK, California—Meta Platforms is in early discussions to lease computing capacity to artificial intelligence startup Anthropic in a potential agreement worth as much as $10 billion over two years, according to a source familiar with the matter, marking a possible expansion of the social media company's ambitions beyond its core advertising business.
The proposed arrangement, first reported by the New York Times, would allow Anthropic to rent computing power from Meta through monthly payments over the life of the agreement. The source said the talks remain preliminary, and the terms could change or the negotiations could end without a final deal.
Anthropic, the developer of the Claude family of AI models, approached Meta with the proposal in June, according to the source. The reported structure would also allow either party to terminate the agreement before the end of the two-year period under specified conditions.
Neither company publicly commented on the discussions. Anthropic declined to comment, while Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
A deal would represent a strategic shift for Meta, which has invested heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centers to support its own AI development. Leasing excess computing capacity to external customers could create a new revenue stream while positioning the company alongside emerging AI infrastructure providers such as CoreWeave and Nebius as demand for high-performance computing continues to rise.
Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has previously indicated that the company could expand into cloud services if demand for its infrastructure justified doing so. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Meta was developing a cloud business focused on offering AI computing capacity and related services to outside developers.
Anthropic has sought additional computing resources through several large infrastructure partnerships as it expands development and deployment of its AI models. The company announced agreements this year with Amazon and SpaceX to secure substantial computing capacity for training and operating Claude.
The latest discussions underscore the growing competition among technology companies to secure and monetize AI infrastructure as demand for advanced computing continues to outpace available supply. As of July 18, no agreement between Meta and Anthropic has been announced, and the negotiations remain ongoing.
