Nscale, Anthropic in talks for $45 billion AI cloud computing deal, Bloomberg News reports

Oct 19 : Nscale is in talks to sell computing power to AI lab Anthropic in a deal that could be worth about $45 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

The Nvidia-backed data center developer is seeking another major deal with the Claude maker for a second facility at its Monarch data center campus in West Virginia, according to the report.

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, the report said.

Nscale and Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

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

Bloomberg News also reported that a cohort of investors urged Anthropic to lower its IPO valuation target after a series of market setbacks for AI companies.

Investors have sharpened their 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 AI stock rout.

The news of a potential tie-up comes after Microsoft pulled out of a deal to anchor a flagship data center for Nscale after power ​connection delays 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.

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