NTT Data nears deal to build Anthropic's first Japan data center in Osaka
Nikkei Asia reported, citing multiple sources, that NTT Data Group is in the final stages of talks to build a data center for Anthropic in the bay area of southern Osaka Prefecture, with the two sides aiming to sign a deal by the end of Japan's fiscal year in March 2027 and partial operation as early as 2028. The site would draw up to 500 megawatts, making it one of Japan's largest data centers, with construction alone potentially costing up to ¥1 trillion, or about $6.3 billion; adding large numbers of GPU-equipped servers could push the total to several trillion yen. Because drawing 500MW from the grid would take time, the project is expected to rely initially on on-site generation such as fuel cells; both NTT Data and Anthropic declined to comment to Nikkei. Anthropic is also weighing new data centers in other Asian countries, and Reuters reported in September that it had signed its first data center lease in Australia.
If finalized, this would be Anthropic's first dedicated data center in Japan, a sign that frontier labs are expanding compute into Asia and that Japan is becoming a major destination for large-scale AI infrastructure investment.