Meta is negotiating a deal to lease computing capacity to AI rival Anthropic, a pact that could be worth up to $10 billion over two years. The talks, first reported by sources familiar with the matter, were proposed by Anthropic in June 2026 and are still in early stages — meaning they could fall apart before anything is signed.
Payments would be made in monthly installments, and either side could exit early under a clause in the proposed agreement. The deal is roughly one-third the size of Anthropic's existing $45 billion, three-year contract with SpaceX, which runs about $1.25 billion a month. Both companies declined to comment.
Why Meta might lease capacity
Meta has committed up to $145 billion in spending this year, mostly on AI — more than double the $72 billion it spent the previous year. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that the company's AI bets "haven't come to fruition yet" and that agent development hasn't accelerated as expected, according to Reuters. That suggests Meta may have built more data center space than its current products need.
Leasing surplus capacity to other firms would turn unused infrastructure into revenue. Meta already rents computing power from CoreWeave in a $21 billion deal and from Nebius in a $27 billion deal. On a May investor call, Zuckerberg hinted that outside companies regularly ask to buy compute at a premium, though Meta had resisted because it expected to use the capacity internally.
Anthropic's growing compute needs
Anthropic, valued near $1.2 trillion and preparing to go public, needs enormous computing resources to train and run its AI models. The company's deal with SpaceX shows it's willing to pay top dollar for capacity. Leasing from Meta would give Anthropic another major supplier, potentially diversifying its infrastructure sources.
The proposed $10 billion figure, while large, is spread over two years and includes an exit clause — a sign both sides are cautious. The talks remain fluid, and the deal could still collapse before closing, the sources said.
Investor questions on AI spending
Meta's massive infrastructure push has drawn scrutiny from investors who wonder whether the extraordinary spending on AI can be justified by real returns. The company's own admission that its AI bets haven't paid off yet only adds to the pressure. Leasing to a competitor like Anthropic could help offset some of those costs, but it also raises questions about why Meta built so much capacity in the first place.
For now, the talks are just that — talks. No agreement has been reached, and neither side is confirming anything publicly. The next step will be whether the two companies can move from early discussions to a signed contract, or whether the deal fizzles out like so many others in the fast-moving AI industry.
