Nvidia Weighs Enscale Data Center Guarantee

Nvidia is discussing a credit guarantee worth billions of dollars to support British cloud company Enscale’s data center construction in West Virginia, The Information reported on the 29th, citing multiple sources. The guarantee would cover the first building and power equipment at the Monarch Compute Campus, with a capacity of 460 MW. No agreement has been signed, and terms may change. The facility is expected to use Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs.

Enscale previously signed a $45 billion computing-resource lease with Anthropic, agreeing to provide long-term computing capacity at its first data center. The companies are reportedly discussing a similar-sized deal for additional buildings. Nvidia is considering guaranteeing the building’s residual value, unlike earlier arrangements that guaranteed lease payments or GPU purchases. If Enscale cannot repay its loan, Nvidia would pay creditors and take over the facility, then sell it or lease it to another customer.

Industry estimates put the basic construction cost of a 1 GW data center at about $12 billion; applying that estimate suggests Nvidia’s guarantee could exceed $5 billion. The Financial Times reported that EY estimates the first 2 GW of development at Monarch will require $69.2 billion. Enscale has not yet secured the construction and equipment costs for the first building intended to serve Anthropic.

Enscale reported revenue of $141 million and a net loss of $1 billion in the first half of 2026. Its $103 billion backlog represents long-term contracts expected to generate revenue as services are delivered, and the Anthropic deal accounts for more than 40% of it. The contract may be terminated if Enscale fails to raise funds by a set deadline. Nvidia’s guarantee could help secure construction financing, but discussions do not mean a deal will be completed.

Nvidia has invested in or provided credit support to CoreWeave, Enscale and others; its deployed investments and future guarantee or support commitments exceed $170 billion. It has also reportedly discussed investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Australian AI cloud company Firmus. As Google, Microsoft and Amazon expand their own AI chip development, Nvidia supplies GPUs to neocloud companies, connects them with customers, helps find data center sites and provides financial support.

Neocloud companies need to complete GPU and data center projects funded with large loans on time to turn long-term contracts into revenue. Delays in financing or power supply can disrupt contract fulfillment. Microsoft recently withdrew from Enscale’s data center project in Essex, England, saying grid connections were expected to remain difficult until the 2030s.

Founded in 2024, Enscale is pursuing a U.S. stock market listing and targets a $35 billion valuation. Its valuation was $14.6 billion when it raised investment in March. The Monarch campus also faces environmental and permitting issues. Its original plan for hydrogen power was changed to natural gas, and the first 2 GW project is set to install 864 gas generators, but it has not received final permits for air pollutant emissions. Potential annual greenhouse gas emissions of up to 10 million tons and nearby flooding during construction have also drawn scrutiny. Even if the credit guarantee goes ahead, construction delays and permitting risks remain.

Nvidia is discussing a credit guarantee worth billions of dollars to support British cloud company Enscale’s data center construction in West Virginia, The Information reported on the 29th, citing multiple sources. The guarantee would cover the first building and power equipment at the Monarch Compute Campus, with a capacity of 460 MW. No agreement has been signed, and terms may change. The facility is expected to use Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs.

Enscale previously signed a $45 billion computing-resource lease with Anthropic, agreeing to provide long-term computing capacity at its first data center. The companies are reportedly discussing a similar-sized deal for additional buildings. Nvidia is considering guaranteeing the building’s residual value, unlike earlier arrangements that guaranteed lease payments or GPU purchases. If Enscale cannot repay its loan, Nvidia would pay creditors and take over the facility, then sell it or lease it to another customer.

Industry estimates put the basic construction cost of a 1 GW data center at about $12 billion; applying that estimate suggests Nvidia’s guarantee could exceed $5 billion. The Financial Times reported that EY estimates the first 2 GW of development at Monarch will require $69.2 billion. Enscale has not yet secured the construction and equipment costs for the first building intended to serve Anthropic.

Enscale reported revenue of $141 million and a net loss of $1 billion in the first half of 2026. Its $103 billion backlog represents long-term contracts expected to generate revenue as services are delivered, and the Anthropic deal accounts for more than 40% of it. The contract may be terminated if Enscale fails to raise funds by a set deadline. Nvidia’s guarantee could help secure construction financing, but discussions do not mean a deal will be completed.

Nvidia has invested in or provided credit support to CoreWeave, Enscale and others; its deployed investments and future guarantee or support commitments exceed $170 billion. It has also reportedly discussed investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Australian AI cloud company Firmus. As Google, Microsoft and Amazon expand their own AI chip development, Nvidia supplies GPUs to neocloud companies, connects them with customers, helps find data center sites and provides financial support.

Neocloud companies need to complete GPU and data center projects funded with large loans on time to turn long-term contracts into revenue. Delays in financing or power supply can disrupt contract fulfillment. Microsoft recently withdrew from Enscale’s data center project in Essex, England, saying grid connections were expected to remain difficult until the 2030s.

Founded in 2024, Enscale is pursuing a U.S. stock market listing and targets a $35 billion valuation. Its valuation was $14.6 billion when it raised investment in March. The Monarch campus also faces environmental and permitting issues. Its original plan for hydrogen power was changed to natural gas, and the first 2 GW project is set to install 864 gas generators, but it has not received final permits for air pollutant emissions. Potential annual greenhouse gas emissions of up to 10 million tons and nearby flooding during construction have also drawn scrutiny. Even if the credit guarantee goes ahead, construction delays and permitting risks remain.