Key Takeaways Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang invested £500 million ($683 million) in UK AI startup Nscale, calling it a potential "national champion". Microsoft signed a massive $6.2 billion five-year deal w...
In a remarkable transformation that has caught the attention of the world's most influential tech leaders, UK-based Nscale has evolved from a cryptocurrency mining spinoff to a major player in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company, which officially launched just 16 months ago in May 2024, has secured billion-dollar partnerships that position it at the center of Europe's AI revolution.
Nscale was spun out from Arkon Energy, which was established a year earlier to provide infrastructure for cryptocurrency mining, pivoting to address soaring demand for data centers capable of handling AI workloads as the generative AI boom took off.
The most significant endorsement came directly from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who revealed at a London press conference that his company had made a substantial equity investment in the British startup. "We convinced ourselves that Nscale could be a national champion for AI infrastructure in the U.K.," Huang told journalists during the announcement.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang separately revealed on Wednesday that the chipmaker had made a £500 million ($683 million) equity investment into Nscale. This investment is part of up to £11 billion for local data centers — the largest rollout in the country's history.
The investment represents more than just financial backing—it signals Nvidia's confidence in Nscale's ability to execute large-scale AI infrastructure projects across Europe.
In a separate but equally significant development, Microsoft announced a major partnership with Nscale and Norwegian investment company Aker. At a contract value of approximately USD 6.2 billion, the agreement secures Microsoft's access to high-performance AI compute capacity to be delivered in staged deployments beginning in 2026.
The project, located in Narvik, Northern Norway, will leverage the region's abundant renewable energy resources. Located in Narvik, Northern Norway, the project will deliver the most advanced AI infrastructure powered by secured grid capacity and entirely renewable electricity.
Jon Tinter, President of Business Development and Ventures at Microsoft, emphasized the strategic importance of the partnership: "This demonstrates our unwavering commitment to customers in Norway and across Europe, enabling us to deliver our latest and most advanced AI services".
Beyond the Norwegian venture, Nscale is also expanding significantly within the UK. Microsoft said it plans to work with Nscale to construct what will become the U.K.'s largest supercomputer in Loughton, a suburban town in the English county of Essex.
The Essex facility represents a major technological milestone. The site will initially house 23,040 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027. When it goes live, it will generate 50 megawatts of AI capacity, scalable to 90 megawatts.
Microsoft President Brad Smith highlighted the significance of the partnership, stating: "No one can make that kind of capital investment unless they've got somebody already committed to spend the money once the work is complete, and that's the role we're playing".
Adding to its impressive roster of partnerships, Nscale is also working with OpenAI on the Stargate UK initiative. OpenAI said it would launch a U.K. version of Stargate through a partnership with Nscale and Nvidia. OpenAI will deploy 8,000 GPUs in the project's first phase early next year, with the option to expand capacity to approximately 31,000 GPUs over time.
The Stargate UK project will operate across multiple sites, with one of the early locations being Cobalt Park in Newcastle, Northern England.
Nscale CEO Josh Payne has positioned the company as a key enabler of European AI sovereignty. In a LinkedIn post following the Microsoft announcement, Payne wrote that the agreement with Microsoft and Aker is a "huge win for European-owned AI infrastructure".
Payne, who previously founded Arkon Energy, has articulated a clear vision for addressing Europe's AI infrastructure challenges. CEO Josh Payne told CNBC in late July that the company was targeting two big problems in Europe. One is a lack of sufficient computing capacity and the other is a "very fragmented market".
Speaking about the Microsoft deal, Payne emphasized the global significance: "Delivering one of the largest GPU deployments in the world reflects the unprecedented demand for compute and confirms Narvik's role as a strategic hub for AI in Europe".
Nscale's rapid growth has been supported by significant funding rounds. In December, the company said it raised $155 million in a round led by Sandton Capital Partners, with participation from Kestrel0x1, Blue Sky Capital Managers and Florence Capital.
Sandton co-founder Rael Nurick praised the company's approach, stating in the press release: "With its unique vertically integrated approach, Nscale is building the hyperscale AI platform to power AI at scale".
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