# Google Will Backstop Anthropic's $19B of Kentucky Leases With TeraWulf, Covering Rent if Anthropic Defaults

Times of AI Desk · 2026-11-04 · Infrastructure

[https://timesof.ai/2026/11/google-backstops-terawulf-anthropic-19b-kentucky-leases](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/google-backstops-terawulf-anthropic-19b-kentucky-leases)

> TeraWulf said on November 4 that Google signed credit support agreements behind about $19 billion of Anthropic leases at its Hawesville, Kentucky campus, to help TeraWulf raise project debt. Its 8-K says that if Anthropic misses rent or becomes insolvent, Google can pay the rent and take over the lease or pay a termination fee. The backstop ends once Anthropic holds investment-grade ratings for three months. TeraWulf also signed Fluor to build three buildings.

Google is now standing behind the rent Anthropic owes on one of its biggest data-center leases, which tells you how lenders price an AI lab that is not yet investment grade. **TeraWulf** said on **November 4** that **Google LLC** signed credit support agreements tied to debt financing for about **$19 billion** of contracted **Anthropic** lease commitments at its **Justified Data Campus** in Hawesville, Kentucky.

## What Google agreed to

TeraWulf's 8-K says three **Credit Support Agreements**, one for each building, were signed by Google, Anthropic and TeraWulf subsidiaries. Under them Google agreed to **backstop certain Anthropic obligations** under the [20-year leases signed in July](https://timesof.ai/2026/07/anthropic-terawulf-19b-kentucky-data-center-lease), which cover about **401 MW** of critical IT load.

If Anthropic misses a payment or becomes insolvent, Google can **pay the rent due and take over the lease** as tenant, or in certain circumstances **pay a termination fee** that entitles it to an equity interest in the TeraWulf subsidiary that owns the leases. After a payment default, Google may also delay that choice for a set period while it keeps paying rent. The termination fee shrinks over a defined term.

The backstop takes effect only when the final data hall under each lease begins, and it ends under conditions that include Anthropic, or an affiliate guaranteeing its leases, **holding certain investment-grade credit ratings for at least three months**. Anthropic and Raylan, the TeraWulf subsidiary, also amended the leases on November 4; the 8-K does not give the new terms.

## Why lenders care

TeraWulf says the support is for anticipated debt financing and notes that Alphabet's senior unsecured debt is rated **AA+** by S&P and **Aa2** by Moody's. "Cost of capital is fundamental to infrastructure development," CFO **Patrick Fleury** said. Reuters, via CNA, called it the latest example of big tech companies providing multibillion-dollar backstops to help smaller AI infrastructure firms fund the build-out. Anthropic's own [amended S-1](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/anthropic-files-s1-nasdaq-ant-16-3b-revenue) warns that partners who depend on third-party financing or credit support could delay or fail to deliver contracted capacity.

TeraWulf also signed a definitive engineering, procurement and construction agreement with **Fluor** for three buildings, with guaranteed maximum pricing still being set. Phased handovers are expected from **late 2027** through the **second quarter of 2028**. TeraWulf shares were down about 3% in premarket trading, Reuters reported.

## Limits

- Neither Google nor Anthropic had commented publicly when we published. The deal terms come from TeraWulf's 8-K and press release.
- The filing does not disclose the size of the termination fee, the length of the deferral period or the amount of debt TeraWulf plans to raise.
- The ratings test that ends the backstop is described only as "certain investment grade credit ratings".

## Sources

- [SEC EDGAR: TeraWulf Inc. Form 8-K (November 4, 2026)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1083301/000162828026069810/wulf-20261104.htm)
- [TeraWulf: TeraWulf Secures Google Credit Backstop for Project Financing in Support of $19 Billion Anthropic Lease; Executes Definitive Fluor EPC Agreement (November 4, 2026)](https://investors.terawulf.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/148/terawulf-secures-google-credit-backstop-for-project-financing-in-support-of-19-billion-anthropic-lease-executes-definitive-fluor-epc-agreement)
- [Reuters via CNA: TeraWulf gets credit backstop from Google for Anthropic data-center project (November 4, 2026)](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/terawulf-gets-credit-backstop-google-anthropic-data-center-project-6524516)