Nscale in talks with Anthropic on computing deal worth about $45 billion
Key Facts
Nscale is in talks to sell computing capacity to Anthropic under a potential deal worth about $45 billion, Reuters reported, citing Bloomberg. Bloomberg attributed the details of the negotiations to people familiar with the matter, as Nscale moves ahead with plans for a U.S. initial public offering. The talks concern additional capacity for Anthropic, which already has infrastructure agreements with Nscale worth up to $44.6 billion. Investing reported the value of those existing agreements, citing Nscale's IPO filing, placing the new negotiations in the context of an established contractual relationship between the companies. The roughly $45 billion figure refers to the potential agreement under negotiation, while the $44.6 billion figure covers agreements already in place before these talks.
The proposed agreement includes an additional building at the Monarch computing campus in West Virginia, according to Investing, citing Bloomberg. The proposal covers 460 megawatts of computing capacity under arrangements aimed at selling that capacity to Anthropic. The proposed building is set to use Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips, according to details in the report on the negotiations. The Monarch campus was among the assets covered by Nscale's agreement to acquire American Intelligence & Power Corporation, according to the company's acquisition announcement. The additional building Nscale is discussing with Anthropic is therefore part of a campus included in its acquisition agreement, where the company plans to bring initial power capacity online by the first half of 2028.
On the public offering, Nscale announced it had filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of an initial public offering of its shares. The company said in its announcement that it had also applied to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NSCL. These steps follow a Series C funding round in which it announced it had raised $2 billion, led by Aker and 8090 Industries. That round valued Nscale at $14.6 billion, according to the company's statement, a valuation that preceded its announced IPO steps. The share registration and listing application coincide with talks on the new computing agreement, in which Nscale is negotiating as the seller of computing capacity to Anthropic.
In another financing ahead of the IPO, Nscale announced on September 25, 2026, that it had raised $3.36 billion through convertible loan notes. Third Point led the round, according to the company's statement, which specified the financing instrument and the amount raised. The Abu Dhabi Investment Council participated in the same round, alongside Nvidia's funding commitment as part of the financing. The instrument used in this round differs from Nscale's announced Series C financing, as the funds were raised through convertible loan notes ahead of the share offering. The financing forms part of the company's financial preparations before the IPO, alongside its New York listing application and negotiations to provide additional computing capacity to Anthropic.
In Britain, another Nscale project faced delays in securing electricity, prompting Microsoft to withdraw from an agreement to be the anchor customer for one of the company's data centres, according to Reuters. Delays in connecting electricity pushed the expected date for supplying the site into the 2030s, the report said. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that "this decision relates to one site," specifying the scope of the agreement's termination at that location. Nscale said it was looking for alternatives to supply the project with electricity, adding: "We are exploring alternative power sources." The withdrawal concerns the British data centre whose power supply was delayed, while the talks with Anthropic cover an additional building at the U.S. Monarch campus.
As for the next step in the negotiations, Bloomberg reported, according to Investing, that the Anthropic agreement could be finalised within days. The report added that discussions were ongoing and terms were subject to change, leaving the potential deal dependent on the outcome of those negotiations. On financing, the convertible funding includes a $1 billion commitment from Nvidia, according to Nscale's announcement. The company expects funds under that commitment to be provided in mid-November 2026, under its announced pre-IPO financing timetable. At the Monarch campus, Nscale expects an initial 2 gigawatts of power capacity to come online by the first half of 2028, according to its announced project plan.