- Anthropic and AI infrastructure provider Nscale are reportedly nearing a second $45 billion compute deal, Bloomberg reported, a little over a month after their first one.
- TechCrunch says sources caution talks are still underway and details could change.
- Both companies are separately pursuing IPOs; Nscale is reportedly facing investor pushback over a proposed $30 billion valuation.
- The deal would extend a string of giant compute commitments Anthropic has made over the past year.
What Happened
Anthropic and Nscale are reportedly on the verge of announcing a second $45 billion compute deal, according to TechCrunch (Oct 19, 2026), which cited a Bloomberg report. The two companies struck an initial $45 billion compute agreement a little over a month earlier. Sources cautioned that talks remain underway and terms could still change.
Why It Matters
A second deal of the same size would extend what TechCrunch describes as a long string of giant compute commitments Anthropic has made over the past year, underscoring how much capital frontier AI labs are committing to secure compute capacity even as some investors question the economics.
Technical Details
Neither company has confirmed the reported talks publicly; TechCrunch said it reached out to both Nscale and Anthropic for comment. The scale of the reported deal mirrors the first Nscale-Anthropic agreement, suggesting an expansion of the same infrastructure partnership rather than a new structure.
Who’s Affected
The news lands as both companies pursue IPOs. Anthropic is still expected to go public this year, while Nscale is reportedly facing investor pushback over its proposed $30 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. TechCrunch noted that the size of AI compute spending has spooked a segment of investors worried about companies spending heavily for too little near-term profit.
What’s Next
Neither company has set a timeline to confirm the deal. The talks follow Lambda’s $4 billion pre-IPO raise built on an Anthropic compute backlog and Broadcom’s reported $60 billion debt raise to fund AI chips for Anthropic, part of a pattern of compute deals anchoring Anthropic’s infrastructure bets ahead of its planned IPO.
