NTT Data Group, a multinational IT services and consulting provider, is reportedly nearing an agreement with U.S. artificial intelligence company Anthropic to develop a large-scale data center in Osaka, in western Japan. According to a report from Nikkei Asia, the project would cost ¥1 trillion (US$ 6.3 billion) for construction with additional investment required for advanced servers and graphics processing units (GPUs).
While neither NTT Data, nor Anthropic have made any official statements about the project, Nikkei Asia reports that the facility is expected to have a power capacity of 500 MW, thus placing it among Japan’s largest data centers.
The companies are reportedly targeting to conclude negotiations by the end of NTT’s fiscal 2026, which ends in March 2027 and partial operations could begin by 2028. If completed, the facility would be Anthropic’s first dedicated data center in Japan. Neither NTT Data nor Anthropic commented on the reported negotiations.
Securing and obtaining 500 MW through the existing power grid remains a major challenge, prompting both companies to consider on site power generation and fuel cells as initial alternatives.
NTT Data operates facilities with a combined capacity exceeding 1,600 MW across not just Japan, but also other countries in APAC, and even has a presence in Latin America, as well as European markets like Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. The company has been expanding its capabilities in AI infrastructure, including facilities equipped with liquid-cooling technology.
A market report by Mordor Intelligence projects the Japanese data center market to increase from US$ 11.89 billion in 2026 to US$ 17.66 billion by 2030 with a 8.22 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2026 and 2031 while power is expected to expand from 3.57 thousand MW to 11.17 thousand MW in the 2026 to 2031 forecast period at a CAGR of 25.62 percent.