# Zuckerberg's plan to sell excess AI compute could finds its first big customer in Anthropic

> Source: <https://the-decoder.com/zuckerbergs-plan-to-sell-excess-ai-compute-could-finds-its-first-big-customer-in-anthropic/>
> Published: 2026-07-17 21:16:00+00:00

# Zuckerberg's plan to sell excess AI compute could finds its first big customer in Anthropic

**Meta is reportedly in talks with Anthropic to rent out compute capacity from its data centers.** The deal could be worth up to $10 billion over two years, according to the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/technology/meta-anthropic-computing-deal.html). Anthropic pitched the arrangement in June. Meta is still reviewing it, and either side could walk away. For Meta, this would open a new revenue stream. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had already told investors he could sell excess capacity if the company's own AI demand didn't keep pace.

Meta plans to spend up to $145 billion this year, mostly on AI. The company is also building out new revenue sources with [paid AI subscriptions like "Meta One"](https://the-decoder.com/meta-one-zuckerberg-finally-puts-a-price-tag-on-all-that-ai-spending/) and even investing in [space-based solar power](https://the-decoder.com/meta-wants-to-power-ai-data-centers-with-solar-energy-from-space/) for its data centers. Anthropic needs the extra capacity because demand for Claude Code has surged. The company already signed a [$45 billion deal with SpaceXAI](https://the-decoder.com/how-anthropics-80x-growth-blew-past-its-own-infrastructure-and-straight-into-musks-data-center/). Long term, though, Anthropic wants to [build its own data centers](https://the-decoder.com/anthropic-recruits-ex-google-data-center-veterans-to-build-its-own-ai-infrastructure-empire/) and has hired former Google executives to lead that effort.

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[New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/technology/meta-anthropic-computing-deal.html)