AI firm Anthropic is planning to source a significant amount of compute capacity in Canada, including from new data centres in Alberta. 

The San Francisco-based company is hiring staff in Canada to help acquire processing power, and to manage relations with the communities that will host its facilities, according to new job postings. Anthropic is planning to bring “gigawatts of compute online in Canada,” states an ad for a new compute country lead.

Anthropic has already committed to spend hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years on processing power, as usage of its Claude models and AI tools grows. So far, its compute buildout has mostly focused on the U.S. Now, it’s following other Silicon Valley tech giants in seeking to build capacity in Canada.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The new compute lead will work with staff in both Canada and the U.S. to find and lease sites for facilities, secure power, finance the projects, oversee construction and lobby federal and provincial governments. Anthropic is also hiring a community engagement manager in Alberta to deal with municipal officials, local organizations and residents in places where its data centres could be built. It’s also recruiting engineers in Canada who can work on its systems for inference, the stage at which AI models produce outputs. 

Anthropic’s major rival OpenAI has also expressed interest in building compute infrastructure in Canada as part of its pitch to sell countries sovereign AI capabilities.

Anthropic has to this point mostly bought compute from cloud providers and data centre operators rather than building facilities it runs directly. Some of its partners already have a Canadian presence. 

In April, the firm signed a US$100-billion deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for five gigawatts of new capacity to train and run its models. AWS has committed to spend $4 billion in Alberta between 2023 and 2037, including on expanding its data centre cluster in Calgary. Anthropic also buys processing power from Google, which has AI infrastructure in Ontario and Quebec. And the Claude maker is getting some compute from neocloud Fluidstack, which uses Iren’s data centres in British Columbia to serve some of its clients.

Alberta, where Anthropic’s new data centre point person will be based, has touted itself as a prime location to build compute capacity. Last month, Meta announced it would build a US$13-billion data centre near Calgary, with electricity from a natural gas power plant of up to 1.8 gigawatts. The Logic first reported on the social media giant’s plans last year.

Several data-centre projects in Canada have faced local opposition. This week, the Alberta Utilities Commission denied an application for a 1.4 gigawatt power plant in Olds, Alta., tied to a potential compute facility, saying the firm proposing it hadn’t conducted proper consultations. Anthropic plans to task its new engagement manager with making the firm “a trusted, visible, and valued neighbour” in the communities in which it plans to operate. That includes anticipating residents’ concerns and touting the “clear local benefits” of its projects.

Anthropic has been setting up government relations and commercial teams in Canada. Earlier this month, it hired Jacob Glick from Amazon as its country head of public policy. He previously worked for Rogers and Telus; connectivity to fibre networks is a major need for data centres. Anthropic also recently hired a former Uber lobbyist in Canada, and has advertised vacancies for sales staff focused on financial services clients.

In April, lobbyists representing the firm registered to engage officials in Alberta’s technology and energy ministries on “AI policy and opportunities.” That same month, the firm also lobbied senior officials in the federal innovation department and staffers working for Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

Anthropic has recently been trying to add compute capacity outside the U.S. The firm has reportedly signed a US$10-billion deal with Volta Infra, a startup founded by former Brookfield Asset Management executives, for a data centre in Norway. It’s also looking to hire compute-focused staff in Australia and Japan.