# Anthropic’s Reported First Australia Lease Is Inference, Not Training

Times of AI Desk · 2026-09-16 · Frontier Labs

[https://timesof.ai/2026/09/anthropic-australia-zerra-data-centre](https://timesof.ai/2026/09/anthropic-australia-zerra-data-centre)

> Reuters reports Anthropic signed its first Australian data-centre lease at Zerra DC’s planned 2.16 GW Western Downs campus in Queensland, online from 2027, for inference not training. FIRB approval still required; both firms declined comment.

**Corrected October 14, 2026:** Attributed the 'first Australia lease' headline to Reuters reporting.

Frontier inference is following cheap renewable megawatts out of Sydney and Melbourne. Anthropic’s first Australian lease is for running Claude, not training it.

**Reuters** (Sydney, September 16), citing two people familiar: **Anthropic** signed its **first Australia data-centre lease**. Site: **Western Downs Digital Park**, farmland **~250 km (150 miles)** from **Brisbane**, Queensland, developed by Singapore-based **Zerra DC** (AFR: **AGP** vehicle). Planned campus capacity **2.16 GW**; first capacity **online 2027**. Use: **inference, not training**. Cooling: **closed-loop, air-cooled** (cuts clean-water draw). Zerra would source **renewable PPAs** and bear **grid-connection** cost without passing it to existing customers, the people said. Deal is subject to **Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB)** approval. **Anthropic and Zerra declined to comment.** No official lab newsroom post.

## Limits

- Wire-of-wire only; both parties declined comment.
- Watch FIRB, and whether “inference only” survives the first cluster that actually lights up.
- No disclosed megawatt commitment or dollar value for Anthropic’s slice of the campus.

## Sources

- [Reuters: Anthropic signs first Australia data centre agreement (September 16, 2026)](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/anthropic-signs-first-australia-data-centre-agreement-2026-09-16/)
- [Australian Financial Review: Anthropic lands its first lease for an Australian data centre (September 16, 2026)](https://www.afr.com/technology/anthropic-lands-its-first-lease-for-an-australian-data-centre-20260916-p60xtu)
- [w.media: Anthropic signs first Australian data center lease (September 16, 2026)](https://w.media/anthropic-signs-first-australian-data-center-lease/)
- [Yahoo Finance (Reuters): Anthropic signs first Australia data centre agreement](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/anthropic-signs-first-australia-data-034938868.html)