Anthropic's S-1 Says It Will Expand Its Data Center Footprint. Here's Who Could Pour the Concrete, Wire the Power, and Cool the Chips.

Anthropic has spent billions developing Claude, one of the world's leading artificial intelligence models. Now it's preparing to spend a staggering amount of money to make sure Claude has somewhere to run.

In its recent IPO filing, Anthropic disclosed approximately $895.4 billion in purchase commitments and lease agreements, substantially all related to computing and infrastructure. About $447.5 billion of those commitments are expected to come due by the end of 2030.

But Anthropic isn't simply buying computing capacity from Amazon and Alphabet anymore. It's also pursuing dedicated data center infrastructure, including arrangements in which third parties develop facilities that Anthropic leases and operates through specialized partners.

Anthropic isn't necessarily constructing or owning the buildings itself. And its filing doesn't identify most of the companies that will build and equip those facilities. Still, some interesting publicly traded companies do this type of work and offer investors exposure to data center construction.

Image source: Getty Images.

Sterling Infrastructure: Preparing the ground

Before installing a server, someone has to prepare the site. My pick in this realm is Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ: STRL), which provides site development services for large industrial projects, including data centers and semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Sterling performs excavation and grading at construction sites and prepares infrastructure to support large buildings. Its electrical contracting business adds another source of revenue from complex construction projects.

Business is booming. In the third quarter, Sterling's E-Infrastructure Solutions segment generated $1.30 billion in revenue, an increase of 212% from a year earlier. That segment accounted for 83% of the company's total quarterly revenue.

Sterling also reported $4.14 billion in signed backlog and another $2 billion in unsigned awards. Management says its broader pipeline of identified work, including future project phases, approaches $8 billion.

Quanta Services: Delivering the electricity

Data centers need power, and a lot of it. Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) provides transmission lines, substations, and other infrastructure to connect data centers to the power grid.

AI data centers aren't the only customers demanding more electricity. Utilities are investing in grid modernization, while industrial facilities and other large electricity users need additional capacity. That gives Quanta a much broader opportunity than any single AI company's expansion plans.

Revenue in the third quarter was $12.01 billion, up 57% from a year ago. Its Electric segment generated $9.80 billion, accounting for nearly 82% of total revenue.

Meanwhile, Quanta's total backlog reached a record $63.7 billion, providing substantial visibility into future work.

Vertiv: Keeping the chips cool

AI chips and servers generate a lot of heat as they work together on AI tasks. And without a way to cool off, they won't work for long. Vertiv Holdings (NYSE: VRT) makes liquid cooling systems that help solve that problem, as well as power equipment and related infrastructure for data centers.

The company's Q3 revenue was $4.31 billion, up an impressive 61% from a year ago. Organic orders more than doubled, and adjusted operating margin increased 290 basis points to 25.2%.

The company's deferred revenue also reached $4.12 billion at the end of September, compared with $1.81 billion at the end of 2025. That reflects payments received for products and services that haven't yet been recognized as revenue.

Converting that demand into completed deliveries remains important.

Three stocks to buy to invest in AI infrastructure

Anthropic's filing makes clear that expanding computing capacity involves considerably more than purchasing advanced chips. It requires land, construction, electricity, cooling equipment, and specialized contractors.

Sterling, Quanta, and Vertiv each participate in a different part of that process. While none is identified as an Anthropic contractor in the filing, all three serve customers beyond Anthropic. That's why they're worth examining.

Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Quanta Services, Sterling Infrastructure, and Vertiv. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.