Anthropic and the AI infrastructure provider Nscale are reportedly on the verge of announcing a second $45 billion compute deal. The report comes from Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter, and was relayed by TechCrunch on October 19. TechCrunch did not independently confirm it, and says it contacted both companies and will update if they respond.
How firm is the report
The sources cautioned that talks are still underway and that the details could change. That matters because the story rests on unnamed sources and neither company had commented at the time of writing. CNBC reported on October 20, also citing a source, that Anthropic is in talks with Nscale over a second multibillion-dollar deal, and that Anthropic declined to comment.
The first deal
TechCrunch says the two companies announced a $45 billion compute deal a little over a month earlier, and a linked report dates that announcement to August 26. If the new agreement goes ahead, it would be the latest in what the article calls a long string of giant compute deals Anthropic has struck over the past year. CNBC's reporting on the new talks describes it as a second data center of about 460 megawatts at the same West Virginia site as the first, according to its source.
The investor backdrop
TechCrunch notes that AI compute spending has spooked a segment of investors, who worry that companies are spending too much for too little profit. Anthropic has kept signing partnerships anyway, driven by the belief that it will all pay off in the end. The article adds that Anthropic is still expected to go public this year, according to a linked CNN report. Nscale is also seeking an IPO, and Bloomberg reported on Monday that it faces investor pushback over its proposed $30 billion valuation.
What to watch
The open questions are whether the deal is announced as reported, whether the size and site match, and how investors react to a second commitment of this scale from a company heading toward a public listing. Until either company confirms, the figure should be treated as reported, not agreed.
Source: TechCrunch, with additional reporting from CNBC. This is an AI Business Watch summary.