Nvidia in talks to guarantee debt for Nscale's Anthropic data center in West Virginia

Nvidia is in talks to guarantee billions of dollars in debt financing for AI cloud provider Nscale's planned Anthropic data center in West Virginia, The Information first reported on October 29. Bloomberg later corroborated the report, and TechCrunch and The Next Web followed with further details. The deal has not been signed and its terms could change.

Under the proposed arrangement, known as a residual value guarantee, Nvidia would step in if Nscale defaulted on construction payments, temporarily take over the facility and help find a buyer and new tenant, according to The Information. The support would help cover the campus's electricity and construction costs. TechCrunch noted that Nvidia's earlier support for cloud providers has mostly covered leases and chip purchases, not construction. Nscale declined to comment to Bloomberg, and Nvidia did not respond.

Anthropic has signed a $44.6 billion contract for the first 460-megawatt building on the campus, according to Nscale's IPO filing, and the companies are discussing a second deal worth roughly $45 billion. The Financial Times, as cited by The Next Web, reported that the Anthropic contract accounts for more than 40% of Nscale's $103 billion revenue backlog, that Nscale has not yet secured financing to build or equip the first building, and that Anthropic can walk away if financing is not in place by a set deadline. Nscale posted a net loss of $1 billion on revenue of $141 million in the first half of 2026.

Nscale is seeking to go public, but The Wall Street Journal reported that it is now leaning toward a December listing and that some bankers have warned it is unlikely to reach its targeted $30 billion to $35 billion valuation. Nvidia has extended roughly $170 billion in investments and credit support to neoclouds and large customers, according to The Information, including $1 billion in convertible financing committed to Nscale in September.

A chipmaker co-signing a customer's loans, TechCrunch said, shows how hard the AI industry is working to keep its buildout plans afloat as investors grow jittery about the sums involved.

Sources: TechCrunch, The Next Web. Image: Getty Images / TechCrunch