--- title: "Anthropic Just Committed a Shocking Crime Against the Environment" description: "Anthropic struck a deal with a Texas-based energy company for gas-fired engines meant to provide AI data centers with electricity." date: "2026-11-09" modified: "2026-11-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/anthropic-environment-gas-deal" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Energy" - "Ethics" - "Fossil Fuels" - "Science & Energy" --- # Anthropic Just Committed a Shocking Crime Against the Environment ![Gas turbines are visible at an xAI data center on Riverport Rd in Memphis, TN.]() *Brandon Dill for The Washington Post via Getty Images* Claude maker Anthropic has signed an unprecedented $3.4 billion deal with a Texas-based energy company called OnePWR Solutions. As the [*Financial Times* reports](), the deal will provide gas-fired engines to provide AI data centers with off-grid electricity. The AI industry is racing to secure enough power and related equipment for its incredibly resource-intensive — and [massively hated]() — facilities, and the Dario Amodei-helmed company is looking to cut out the middle man. Anthropic's deal, per the *FT*, is the "largest known single purchase of power-generation equipment by an AI lab." It isn't just symptomatic of a desperate race to secure the necessary utilities: it's also one of the clearest signs yet that the AI industry has turned its back on the growing climate crisis in favor of pollution-spewing gas generators it's installing [across the globe](). Researchers have found that the effects of AI on the environment are [nothing short of devastating](). And the prognosis for the future is grim. Last month, environmental nonprofit Sierra Club [estimated]() that upcoming AI data centers could release 2.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, wiping out nearly 15 years worth of greenhouse gas reduction efforts. After OnePWR's attempts to acquire Caterpillar gas generators stalled thanks to a lack of funds, Anthropic decided to upgrade its client relationship to take over the Caterpillar orders itself as part of the latest deal. The company's competitors, including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Google parent company Alphabet, have also bought energy developers and power equipment directly. While analysts say Anthropic could be protecting itself from future energy equipment price swings as it prepares to go public, its deal with OnePWR once again highlights just how deep the relationship runs between dirty fossil fuels and frontier AI labs. That reality is unlikely to win over the American public, which voted defiantly against data centers a mere week ago. Out of 41 data center-related ballot measures, [only a single one swung in favor]() of the AI industry. Beyond the staggering environmental damage, the facilities are also known to [emit earsplitting noise pollution]() and [raise local electricity prices](), making them staggeringly unpopular. **More on data centers:** [*New AI Data Center Is So Huge That It’ll Generate the Heat of 23 Atomic Bombs Every Single Day*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [The Military’s AI Fever Is Leading Into Disaster, Critics Say]() - [Children’s Toys Are Shipping With Adult AI Inside Them]() - [OpenAI Says It Will Let Users Add Trusted Contacts to Alert If They Experience a Mental Health Crisis While Using ChatGPT]() - [Mamdani Shuts Down NYC’s Disastrous AI Chatbot]() - [TikTok Accounts Are Using AI Slop to Sell Seeds to Plants That Don’t Exist]() - [Police Admit AI Surveillance Panopticon Still Has Issues With “Some Demographic Groups”]() - [A Startling Proportion of Teens Now Prefer Talking to AI Over a Real Person]() - [Judge Horrified as Lawyers Submit Evidence in Court That Was Faked With AI]()