Anthropic, the San Francisco‑based AI research firm, inked a six‑year contract to lease compute capacity from British data‑center developer Nscale at a total cost of $45 billion. The agreement secures about 460 megawatts of power at Nscale’s flagship West Virginia campus, a figure Bloomberg likens to the instantaneous electricity consumption of roughly 345,000 American homes.

The West Virginia site will host Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin chips, slated to become operational late next year. Those processors will sit in the first of three planned buildings, part of a campus that could eventually deliver 1.35 gigawatts of compute power once fully built.

Nscale, a two‑year‑old London company, is gearing up for a U.S. initial public offering as early as next month. The firm reports $51 billion in contracted revenue, a number that counts future commitments in full when a deal is signed. Anthropic’s $45 billion contract now represents the largest single entry in that backlog, dwarfing the $100 million the company booked in its most recent quarter.

Anthropic’s move follows a string of hefty compute arrangements. Earlier this year the startup signed a $50 billion deal with Fluidstack, a week‑old company, and a $45 billion agreement with SpaceX. Microsoft had initially signed a letter of intent for the West Virginia location in March but withdrew during the summer, clearing the way for Anthropic to become the primary tenant.

Planning documents estimate the total cost of developing the full campus and an on‑site power plant at $71 billion, with $47 billion earmarked for the chips themselves. The massive investment arrives as Anthropic prepares for a record‑size public listing; the company was valued at $965 billion in May.

Nscale’s board boasts high‑profile figures such as former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and ex‑British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. Beyond Appalachia, the firm is also constructing a data‑center campus in Norway for Microsoft. While the flagship project sits in the United States, Nscale’s forthcoming IPO will be listed in New York, underscoring a trend of British AI infrastructure firms raising capital abroad.

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