Anthropic's hiring spree targets Australia and Japan for AI data center expansion

Anthropic's latest hiring spree reveals where it's building AI data centers next

Australia and Japan are emerging as key markets for AI data center growth for Anthropic, though copyright laws and power access remain challenges. Anthropic is racing to increase its AI compute capacity in the Asia-Pacific region, as the company scrambles to keep up with soaring demand for its products. The U.S.-based AI lab is currently hiring for 13 roles in its compute department -- which focuses on developing and managing AI data centres -- of which eight are based in Australia or Japan. In Japan, the company is hiring for two roles: sourcing data center deals and a data center electrical engineer. Six open Australia-based roles all focus on data center engineers and operators. In April, Anthropic was also hiring for a data center deal sourcing role in the country. Anthropic, the world's most valuable private company, announced a slew of U.S.-based data center deals in the spring, and was hiring a role for negotiating compute capacity in Europe in April. It's increasingly looking to overseas expansion as usage of its enterprise and consumer products has gained momentum in recent months. "Growth at this pace places an inevitable strain on our infrastructure; our unprecedented consumer growth, in particular, has impacted reliability and performance," the company said in an April blog post. Anthropic has continued its pace of breakneck growth in spite of continued tension with the U.S. administration over the use of its AI models. The AI lab raised $65 billion in May at a $965 billion valuation. Its revenue run-rate crossed $47 billion that month, multiple times higher than the "around $9 billion" Anthropic said the figure stood at at the end of 2025. As part of its race to build out compute capacity, a listing for a data center energy role in Australia specifically mentions the company's "rapidly expanding AI compute footprint across the region" and talks of leading "multi-hundred megawatt procurement efforts." Australia has excess land, abundant renewable energy potential and a stable political and regulatory environment, said David Wroe, head of AI and Security Program at think tank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The country also has "distance from military threats, which have proved such a vulnerability for the Gulf states," he told CNBC. Conflict in the Middle East has tested the region's credentials as a secure place to build AI infrastructure, with two Amazon data centers targeted early in the war. Australia's involvement in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing partnership with the U.S. also means that the country is viewed as a safe destination for compute, even as models become more powerful and sensitive as national security assets, Wroe added. But the "main obstacle" to a large-scale AI infrastructure buildout in Australia are copyright laws "which put an AI company at risk of being sued by rights holders," Wroe said. Some politicians in Australia are campaigning against copyright carve-outs for AI companies looking to use content to train commercial products. Anthropic pointed CNBC towards comments it made in May, where the company said it would be expanding capacity internationally. "We're very intentional about where we'll add capacity -- partnering with democratic countries whose legal and regulatory frameworks support investments of this scale, and where the supply chain on which our compute depends -- hardware, networking, and facilities -- will be secure," Anthropic said in a blog post. While roles in Australia and Japan don't feature salary bands, a London-based data center deal sourcing role for Europe, which the company was hiring for in April, was offering a salary of between £225,000 and £270,000 ($296,854-$355,253). Engineering and technical roles in data centers are particularly in demand due to a labour shortage, with salaries for these roles on the rise. Japan has evolving grid infrastructure and significant government interest in domestic AI infrastructure, according to the Anthropic job advert. The U.S. AI lab isn't the only company to show interest in investing in the region. In April Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment into Japan, which will include developing AI infrastructure, and GMI Cloud announced a $12 billion sovereign AI project in March. "Japan is a particularly appealing place to invest in Asia because of its political stability, reliable power grid, highly developed Internet and subsea cable infrastructure and technically skilled workforce," said Aalok Mehta, director of the Wadhwani AI Center at think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "In many ways that reflects factors that are driving so much data center investment in the United States." AI infrastructure builds in Japan still faces critical challenges when it comes to access to energy, as with projects across the globe. For many data center developers across Asia-Pacific, "securing power is becoming more challenging than securing land, financing or permits," said Xiaonan Feng, principal analyst of APAC power and renewables at Wood Mackenzie. "Grid availability is emerging as the defining constraint on data centre growth." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Anthropic expands hiring for AI infra roles in A-Pac amid surge in demand

The hiring push comes as Anthropic works to expand its computing capacity beyond the US. The company had said in a blog post in April that rapid growth in demand had placed pressure on its infrastructure, impacting reliability and performance. Amid growing demand, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is increasing its data centre infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region, and hiring for 13 roles in its compute division, responsible for developing and managing data centres. Eight of these are based in Australia and Japan, according to job listings reviewed by CNBC. The hiring push comes as Anthropic works to expand its computing capacity beyond the US. The company has already announced several data centre-related agreements in the US and previously advertised a Europe-based role focussed on negotiating compute capacity. The company had said in a blog post in April that rapid growth in demand had placed pressure on its infrastructure, impacting reliability and performance. One Australia-based job posting refers to Anthropic's "rapidly expanding AI compute footprint across the region" and mentions responsibility for leading multi-hundred-megawatt energy procurement efforts. Experts cited by CNBC pointed to several factors that make Australia attractive for AI infrastructure investments, including available land, renewable energy potential, and stable regulatory environment. Australia's participation in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance was also highlighted as a factor that could make the country an attractive location for AI computing infrastructure. Five Eyes is a security partnership between Australia, the US, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand. The America-based artificial intelligence startup has also said that it intends to add capacity in countries with legal and regulatory frameworks that support large infrastructure investments and secure supply chains. Japan is also drawing attention for AI infra. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in the country, while GMI Cloud unveiled a $12 billion AI project in April.