Nscale, a data-center developer backed by Nvidia, is negotiating with AI company Anthropic on a capacity-lease deal worth about $45 billion for space at the Monarch campus in West Virginia, Bloomberg reported. The agreement would relate to Nscale’s second facility on the campus and could strengthen Nscale’s case ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO).
What the deal would cover
The planned second building at the Monarch campus would provide about 460 megawatts of compute capacity, built around Nvidia’s latest-generation Vera Rubin AI chips. Once fully built, the Monarch campus is expected to have more than 8 gigawatts of gross capacity.
Anthropic is already one of Nscale’s largest customers. Regulatory filings tied to Nscale’s IPO application show an existing infrastructure agreement between the two companies valued at roughly $44.6 billion, and Anthropic also holds a pre-lease right for the campus’s proposed third building.
Timing and negotiation status
People familiar with the discussions said the parties could sign the new agreement within days, although terms may still change. A further multi–billion-dollar contract would materially improve Nscale’s outlook ahead of going public.
Nscale’s IPO preparations and recent funding
Nscale filed for a U.S. listing in September, but the share-sale phase has not yet begun as the company is addressing comments from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company has targeted an IPO valuation of about $30 billion, though some investors have urged management to temper expectations.
Last month Nscale raised $3.36 billion in a pre-IPO financing round led by Dan Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point, with participation from Nvidia, Apollo Global Management, Citadel, Hudson Bay Capital and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council.
Background on the Monarch campus and Anthropic
Part of the Monarch campus had originally been intended for Microsoft; the tech giant signed a letter of intent in March but stepped back over the summer, leaving the slot to Anthropic.
Anthropic has been expanding its footprint in the data-center market. The company has previously announced agreements reportedly valued at $50 billion with Fluidstack, $10 billion with Volta Infrastructure, and $45 billion with SpaceX. Market reports noted that Anthropic was valued at about $965 billion in May, and there is speculation it may pursue its own public listing in the near future.
Why this matters
A large capacity-lease agreement between a major AI provider and a data-center developer underscores the growing commercial scale of AI infrastructure and could materially affect Nscale’s IPO prospects. At the same time, finalizing terms and resolving regulatory comments remain key steps before any transaction becomes definitive.
(This article was prepared with assistance from an AI tool; the final content was edited and verified by our journalist.)
