Nvidia Weighs Cosigning Billions in Debt for Nscale's West Virginia AI Campus

Nvidia is in talks to guarantee billions of dollars in debt financing for Nscale's planned Anthropic data center in West Virginia, The Information reported Thursday, with Bloomberg later corroborating the story. In practice, the chipmaker would co-sign a customer's loans — an unusual step that signals how hard the AI industry is working to keep its buildout plans afloat as investors grow jittery about the sums involved.

Anthropic has already signed a $44.6 billion contract covering the project's first building alone, according to Nscale's IPO filing. That figure is roughly five times Nscale's entire target valuation of up to $35 billion for its public listing.

What would the guarantee actually cover?

The proposed arrangement would help Nscale secure financing for electricity and construction costs at its West Virginia campus. Under a structure 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 a new tenant, according to The Information.

That marks a shift in Nvidia's role. The company's earlier support for cloud providers has mostly covered leases and chip purchases, not construction.

The stakes for Nscale are considerable. The company is seeking to go public at a valuation of up to $35 billion despite growing concerns about its ability to deliver on ambitious data center projects.

How big is the Anthropic relationship?

Anthropic's contract covers the first 460-megawatt building at the West Virginia campus, which is expected to run on Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin chips. The two companies are also discussing a second deal worth roughly $45 billion for another building.

Takeaway: one campus, two buildings, nearly $90 billion in committed and potential contracts.

Has Nscale delivered before?

Not at this scale. The company had about 25,000 advanced AI chips running in August — roughly 5% of the nearly 500,000 it plans to deploy. Its West Virginia site has also drawn local friction: runoff from the construction site has flooded nearby homes more than once, and the project only won state certification in September after months of negotiations.

This month, Microsoft pulled out of a planned Nscale site in England after grid power for it was pushed into the 2030s. That exit shows how dependent these projects remain on electricity timelines that Nscale does not control.

Why is Nvidia willing to take the risk?

Nvidia has been one of the sector's largest financial backers, extending roughly $170 billion in investments and credit support to neoclouds and large customers, according to The Information. That includes $1 billion in convertible financing committed to Nscale in September.

The guarantee would deepen those ties while securing a major customer for Nvidia's chips. Anthropic, one of the largest buyers of AI computing power, has spread its infrastructure spending across multiple chipmakers. One investor told The Information that Anthropic's involvement likely explains Nvidia's interest in keeping Nscale's project on track.

The context matters. Neoclouds — companies that rent out AI computing power without a cash-rich core business behind them — have come under investor pressure. Shares of CoreWeave, Nebius, and IREN had each fallen more than 30% in October as of last week, CNBC reported.

What does Anthropic's credit picture add?

The talks coincide with questions about how Anthropic will finance its own rapid expansion. The company filed to go public this week, but Blackstone has warned investors that Anthropic may receive a below-investment-grade credit rating after its IPO. A junk rating would raise Anthropic's borrowing costs and could push it to keep relying on stronger partners to back its debt.

Takeaway: Nvidia's willingness to cosign construction debt is as much about locking in Anthropic as an anchor customer as it is about rescuing Nscale — and it shifts construction risk onto the chipmaker's balance sheet, at least until the guarantee's exact terms surface.