A major expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure in Israel is moving forward at unprecedented scale, with a billion-dollar server farm planned for the city of Afula—but the rapid development raises critical questions about resource allocation, energy demands, and who benefits from the technology boom.
The server farms company Anan, owned by singer Omer Adam, Maor Malul, and investment professional Nessim Sariel-Gaon, has signed a long-term agreement with Crusoe Technologies, one of the world's fastest-growing AI infrastructure companies. The deal, expected to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, reflects an estimated valuation of over one billion dollars for Anan and marks Crusoe's strategic entry into the Israeli market.
The Scale of the Undertaking
Anan will provide AI HPC infrastructure with an initial capacity of 40 megawatts at the Afula site, with significant expansion options. The planned complex is expected to span tens of thousands of square meters and reach a total capacity of 100 megawatts, operating around the clock—construction is already underway at an accelerated pace of 24 hours a day, six days a week.
The facility will use advanced cooling systems and high electrical redundancy to manage the enormous power requirements. Crusoe, which raised 1.4 billion dollars last October at a valuation of 10 billion dollars, serves major end customers including OpenAI and Oracle. The company's Israeli operations are led by Alon Yariv, who joined Crusoe after selling his previous activity in a deal estimated at about 200 million dollars.
For Anan, established four years ago, this represents a dramatic acceleration into the global technology sector. Unlike traditional server real estate models, the company focuses on building heavy computing infrastructure platforms tailored specifically to artificial intelligence needs.
Global Context and Strategic Positioning
The expansion occurs against a backdrop of severe global shortage of data center infrastructure and electricity availability. Industry experts view the Afula site as a strategic asset at the international level, positioning Israel as a destination for some of the world's most complex computing systems despite regional security concerns.
Beyond the Crusoe agreement, Anan is promoting the establishment of additional sites in Israel with a combined scope of over 500 megawatts and has signed agreements with other global entities in the field. The company's rapid growth and international partnerships signal confidence from leading technology firms in Israel's capacity to host cutting-edge AI infrastructure.
Why This Matters:
This infrastructure boom exemplifies a critical tension in the digital economy: while AI development promises significant technological advancement and economic opportunity, the massive resource requirements—particularly electricity and water for cooling—concentrate both power and environmental costs in specific locations. The decision to site major server farms involves questions about public resource allocation that deserve democratic scrutiny. Who decides how scarce electricity is distributed between residential users, small businesses, and multinational tech corporations? What environmental and infrastructure costs fall on local communities? These are fundamentally questions about whether technology development serves broad public benefit or concentrates wealth and opportunity among investors and international firms. The scale of investment here—hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to private entities—underscores the need for transparent public policy frameworks ensuring that communities hosting critical infrastructure share equitably in the benefits and bear fairly the costs.