Google could become a part owner of a data center project developed by bitcoin miner TeraWulf if artificial intelligence company Anthropic fails to meet its rental obligations, according to a newly disclosed agreement.
The Silicon Valley giants agreed to backstop Anthropic’s obligations under a 20-year, $19 billion lease covering 401 megawatts of computing capacity at its Kentucky campus, TeraWulf said in a Wednesday filing.
The arrangement is meant to help TeraWulf secure financing for the project, which is expected to begin delivering capacity in late 2027.
If Anthropic defaults on its rent or becomes insolvent, Google can step in as the tenant and take over the lease. Furthermore, under certain conditions, it can pay a termination fee and take an ownership stake in Raylan Data, the TeraWulf subsidiary operating the project.
The size of that stake depends on how much Google pays, as the contract divides the termination fee by the total cost of developing and building the facility, including land, infrastructure, equipment and financing.
A termination payment equal to 30% of the project’s total cost, for example, would give Google a 30% stake in the subsidiary.