Nvidia-backed Nscale, Anthropic in talks for new $45 billion AI cloud deal, source says

Oct 19 — Nscale is in talks to sell AI computing power to Claude maker Anthropic ​in a new deal that could be worth about $45 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The data center ‌developer is seeking another major deal with the AI lab for a second facility at its ⁠Monarch data center campus in ​West Virginia, the person said.

In August, ⁠Anthropic struck a deal to spend $45 billion to rent AI cloud computing ‌power from Nscale's West ‌Virginia data center campus. A second Monarch building would deliver ⁠460 megawatts of computing power using Nvidia's advanced ⁠Vera Rubin AI chips, according to the source.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Anthropic also has the right of first refusal on Monarch's expected third building, the person said, adding discussions were ongoing and details of the plan could change.

Bloomberg, which first ‌reported the news, also said a cohort of ​investors had urged Anthropic to lower its IPO valuation target after a series of market setbacks for AI companies.

Investors have sharpened scrutiny of companies that are increasingly turning to debt-driven AI infrastructure expansion. Last week, Nscale rival CoreWeave's shares slumped amid concerns over its $50 billion debt load, fueling a global selloff in AI stocks.

The news of a potential ​tie-up comes after Microsoft pulled out of a deal to anchor a flagship ‌data center for ‌Nscale following ⁠power connection delays that pushed its expected supply date into the 2030s.

Nscale has grown rapidly since launch, increasing its total contracted value from $100 million to more than $103 billion in two-and-a-half years and competing with Nebius, Crusoe and Lambda.

According ‌to the Nscale prospectus, ​Microsoft and Anthropic are expected to be ‌the company's major customers ⁠in the ​future.

(Reporting by Jeff Horwitz in San Francisco and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Pooja Desai)

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