According to a report by Nikkei Asia on October 13th, several sources revealed that NTT Data Group plans to build a data center for the American artificial intelligence company Anthropic in western Japan. The project is currently in the final negotiation stage.
This facility will be Anthropic’s first dedicated facility in Japan. It is located in Osaka Prefecture, and the construction cost could reach 1 trillion yen (approximately 42.25 billion yuan).
The goal of both parties is to sign the agreement by the end of fiscal year 2026 (late March next year), with some operations possibly starting in 2028.
It is reported that this data center is expected to have a total power connection capacity of up to 500 megawatts, making it one of the largest data centers in Japan.
In addition, artificial intelligence data centers also require high-performance servers with graphics processing units (GPUs). The installation of a large number of advanced artificial intelligence servers will result in a total investment of several trillion yen.
Ensuring power supply will be a major challenge for the proposed data center. According to reports, since obtaining 500 megawatts of power from utilities through the grid takes time, alternative solutions will be considered in the initial phase of the project, including on-site power generation and fuel cells.
According to Nikkei Asia, there is a wave of large-scale data center development projects in Japan. In Akita Prefecture in northern Japan, there is a plan to build a data center with a capacity of 500 megawatts, estimated to cost 2 trillion yen. A Taiwanese investment company is planning to invest approximately 850 billion yen in building a 350 megawatt facility in Kagoshima Prefecture in western Japan.
Previously, the Japanese government has identified data centers and cloud computing as key products and technologies in 17 strategic areas, and has set a goal: by the fiscal year 2035, to mobilize public and private investments totaling 32.7 trillion yen in the fields of data centers, cloud computing, and storage batteries.
Meanwhile, Anthropic is considering building new data centers in several Asian countries.
It is worth mentioning that just when the Japanese side was hoping for investment, there was a wave of opposition to data centers in the United States. Currently, local governments in both political parties in the US have announced measures to suspend, review, or ban further development of such facilities.
Republican strategists warn that data centers are becoming a political hot topic. They point out that internal polls show these projects are highly unpopular, and have become a symbol of people's general anxiety about the power of large tech companies, rising electricity costs, and the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence.
According to the Axios news website, the survey results are shocking. According to a survey by the Annenberg Foundation, 61% of Americans oppose the construction of new data centers in their communities, including 54% of Republicans.
