Anthropic and Nscale in Talks for Second $45 Billion Compute Deal
Bloomberg reports talks for a second $45 billion block
Nscale is negotiating to sell Anthropic computing power worth about $45 billion, Bloomberg reported on October 19, citing people familiar with the talks. The deal would cover a second building at Nscale's Monarch campus in West Virginia, delivering about 460 megawatts of capacity built on Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips. Reuters confirmed the negotiations the same day through its own source.
No official confirmation, and terms could still shift
Anthropic did not respond to Reuters' request for comment, and Nscale has not publicly confirmed the terms. Bloomberg noted that discussions are ongoing and details could change; Reuters likewise stressed that nothing has been signed, leaving the price and delivery schedule uncertain.
The talks would build on an existing partnership. In August, Anthropic agreed to rent computing power from the first Monarch building over six years, a commitment Reuters valued at about $45 billion. Nscale's IPO filing puts the related agreements at up to about $44.6 billion, contingent on Nscale securing financing and hitting construction milestones. Anthropic also holds a right of first refusal on an expected third building at the campus.
Soaring revenue forces capacity lock-in
Demand from Claude's training and inference workload is driving the move. Anthropic told investors its third-quarter revenue reached $16.8 billion, up about 46 percent from $11.5 billion the previous quarter, according to Bloomberg. Locking in large, firm blocks of capacity ahead of its planned listing has become central to sustaining that growth story.
Microsoft's UK exit leaves Nscale's record mixed
What comes next is financing and delivery
A signed second deal would roughly double Anthropic's footprint at the Monarch campus and strengthen Nscale's IPO narrative. Yet the first deal was itself conditional on financing, and the second faces the same constraints of money and power: construction progress in West Virginia, supply of Nvidia's newest chips, and repairs to the Norwegian and British projects will decide whether the $45 billion turns into working capacity or stays on paper.
