Anthropic has issued a stark warning: the United States is not prepared to meet the immense power demands that the next generation of AI systems will require. According to the company, by 2028 the country will need at least 50 gigawatts of additional electric capacity to support both the training and deployment of cutting-edge AI models. That figure is far beyond what current infrastructure projects can deliver on schedule. The training of frontier AI models alone may require several massive data centers, each consuming up to five gigawatts of power. When factoring in inference—the real-time application of AI services, the total demand is expected to double, placing unprecedented strain on the grid within just a few years.
Anthropic points out that the U.S. is falling behind global competitors, particularly China, which has made far more aggressive investments in electrical generation. In contrast, America’s slow-moving permitting processes and outdated infrastructure are creating bottlenecks that could hinder the development and rollout of transformative AI technologies.
In a recently released report, the company outlines the regulatory hurdles contributing to this shortfall. Fragmented federal, state, and local approvals, coupled with delays in building transmission lines and connecting new power sources to the grid, are slowing progress at a critical time. The report calls for rapid, coordinated policy reforms to fast-track power availability where it’s most urgently needed.
Among the proposed solutions are streamlining permit processes, accelerating grid interconnections, and opening federal lands to data center development. Anthropic also emphasizes the need to build up supply chains and train the workforce required to support this massive infrastructure expansion.
The message is clear: AI innovation in the United States now hinges as much on energy policy as it does on software or hardware. Without urgent action to expand and modernize the nation’s power systems, the ability to remain competitive in the global AI race may slip away.