The 50GW also appears to be on a slightly scaled-back timeline - just in March, Anthropic said that an "additional" 50GW was required by 2027.

"Experts disagree about the exact estimates," Anthropic said in its new whitepaper. "But if these numbers are approximately right, then meeting AI’s power needs over the next few years will be a significant challenge."

The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that data centers (AI, non-AI, and crypto) will require 74-132GW in 2028.

Of the roughly 50GW, Anthropic estimates 20-25GW will be for frontier AI training by 2028, spread across several locations.

The company notes that China has deployed more than 400 gigawatts of power in the last year, compared to several dozen gigawatts in the United States. To catch up, the company made several suggestions - mostly revolving around cutting regulations and approvals.