Nscale and Anthropic are reportedly in advanced negotiations for a second cloud computing agreement valued at approximately $45 billion. The deal would significantly expand the partnership between the two companies, potentially doubling the infrastructure commitment Anthropic made just two months ago.
The proposed agreement covers a second 460-megawatt (MW) building at the Monarch Compute Campus in West Virginia. If finalized, it would mirror a $44.6 billion, six-year lease signed in August 2026 for an identical 460-MW facility at the same site.
Hardware and Infrastructure Targets
The infrastructure planned for these facilities is set to utilize Nvidia’s next-generation “Vera Rubin” accelerators. This transition to Rubin-class hardware places the project on the leading edge of AI compute, though actual hardware delivery for the first phase of the campus is not slated to begin until late 2027.
The West Virginia capacity became available to Anthropic after Microsoft recently terminated its own data center contracts with Nscale. Microsoft’s exit from projects in both the United Kingdom and West Virginia was reportedly driven by projected power delivery delays reaching into the 2030s. By securing this capacity, Anthropic is betting on Nscale’s ability to resolve these grid bottlenecks faster than Microsoft’s internal projections suggested.
IPO Leverage and Financial Performance
The timing of the $45 billion negotiation is critical for Nscale as it prepares for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NSCL. The company is currently seeking a valuation of $30 billion, using its backlog of nearly $90 billion in Anthropic contracts to shore up investor confidence.
However, Nscale faces significant financial and operational hurdles. Institutional investors have reportedly pushed back against the $30 billion target, suggesting a valuation closer to $16 billion or $19 billion due to the capital-intensive nature of the builds and the extended timelines for power activation.
Beyond the West Virginia campus, Nscale is grappling with delivery delays at its existing facility in Norway. The company’s ability to convert these massive reported claims into operational revenue remains the primary focus for analysts as the IPO approaches. If the second Anthropic deal closes, it would represent one of the largest single-tenant infrastructure commitments in the history of the data center industry, even as the hardware required to fill it remains in the pre-production phase.
