Anthropic in Advanced Talks for Second $45 Billion Nscale Cloud Computing Deal

20 October 2026 · Source balance: Centre

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude model, is in talks to commit another $45 billion to Nscale, a British AI infrastructure startup, for computing capacity at a second facility in West Virginia. This would follow an initial $45 billion agreement signed in August. Both deals involve 460 megawatts of computing power using Nvidia's advanced Vera Rubin chips, with the new facility expected online by 2028. If completed, the combined contracts would total roughly $90 billion. Anthropic has faced growing demand for its Claude models that strained its infrastructure earlier this year, prompting a series of massive infrastructure deals with providers including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others. The company disclosed plans for $518 billion in total infrastructure commitments over the next decade. Nscale, founded in 2024, recently filed for an IPO and lists Anthropic and Microsoft as major expected customers. Analysts note that while the headline values are large, payments occur over time rather than upfront. Some investors have expressed concerns about debt-driven AI infrastructure expansion after rival CoreWeave faced stock declines related to its $50 billion debt load.