Nvidia Weighs Billions in Guarantees for Nscale's $44.6 Billion Anthropic Data Center
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Oct 31
Nvidia Weighs Billions in Guarantees for Nscale's $44.6 Billion Anthropic Data Center
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Oct 31
Summary
Nvidia is discussing a residual value guarantee that would back billions in debt for Nscale’s planned Anthropic campus in West Virginia, an unusual step beyond its typical support for leases and chip purchases.
The structure would help Nscale finance construction and power costs; if Nscale defaulted, Nvidia could temporarily take over the facility and help find a buyer and new tenant.
Anthropic has already signed a $44.6 billion contract for the first 460-megawatt building, with talks underway on a second roughly $45 billion deal expected to use Nvidia’s Vera Rubin chips.
Nscale is seeking an IPO at up to a $35 billion valuation but had only about 25,000 advanced AI chips running in August versus plans for nearly 500,000, while its West Virginia site has faced flooding complaints and only won state certification in September.
The talks underscore strain across AI infrastructure financing: Nvidia has already extended about $170 billion in investments and credit support, neocloud shares have slumped, and Anthropic’s own IPO could leave it with a below-investment-grade rating.
Why would Nvidia risk co-signing billions for Nscale’s West Virginia AI campus, and what happens if the project or Anthropic demand falls short?
Can one West Virginia campus deliver jobs, tax revenue, and frontier AI capacity without turning construction, power, and environmental risks into someone else’s problem?