Anthropic and Nscale reportedly near a second $45B compute deal

Anthropic and AI infrastructure provider Nscale may be close to announcing a second compute deal worth $45 billion, according to Bloomberg, which TechCrunch cites in a report published Monday.

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the two companies are on the verge of an announcement, while cautioning that talks are still under way and that the details could change.

The reported deal would land a little over a month after the pair announced a $45 billion compute agreement in August, a transaction already counted among the largest infrastructure commitments in the AI industry.

TechCrunch notes that if it goes through, the agreement would be the latest in a long string of giant compute deals Anthropic has struck over the past year, as the Claude developer locks up data center and accelerator capacity for training and inference.

That pace has spooked a segment of investors who worry AI companies are spending too much money for too little profit. Anthropic has pressed on anyway, driven by the belief that the spending pays off in the end.

Both companies are also pursuing IPOs. Anthropic is still expected to go public this year, while Nscale is seeking a listing and, per Bloomberg, is running into investor pushback over its proposed $30 billion valuation.

None of this is official yet. TechCrunch said it reached out to both companies and would update the story if it heard back, so the size, timing and structure of any deal remain unconfirmed.

What to watch is whether an announcement follows, and whether the terms differ from August's agreement in compute type, site locations or payment schedule. With IPOs in view, a $45 billion commitment is both a growth story and a long-term claim on the balance sheet.