Announced at GTC 2026, the deal covers around 430,000 next-generation NVIDIA GPUs, is backed by a Caterpillar natural gas power deal, and is built on a site described as the US’s first state-certified AI microgrid, with an 8GW potential footprint.
Nscale has signed a letter of intent with Microsoft to provide 1.35 gigawatts of AI compute capacity at a new campus in Mason County, West Virginia, deploying NVIDIA’s next-generation Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs at what it describes as the first large-scale commercial rollout of the Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory reference architecture.
The deal, announced at NVIDIA’s GTC 2026 conference on 16 March, covers approximately 430,000 Vera Rubin GPUs and is structured as a long-term framework combining a multi-year compute services agreement with a long-term data centre lease.
Deliveries will begin in late 2027 and be phased across multiple tranches. The deployment will sit on a site Nscale has simultaneously acquired, the Monarch Compute Campus, a 2,250-acre plot in Mason County that Nscale describes as the first state-certified AI microgrid in the United States, with an on-site power potential scalable to over eight gigawatts.
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Nscale acquired the campus by purchasing American Intelligence & Power Corporation (AIPCorp), which was sponsored by Fidelis New Energy and 8090 Industries.
“This collaboration with Microsoft marks a pivotal milestone both for Nscale and the development of the Monarch Campus. By integrating our specialized AI infrastructure with Microsoft’s global platform, we are creating a foundation for innovation that can scale alongside the most ambitious AI models in the world.” – Josh Payne, CEO, Nscale
Power: 2GW from Caterpillar natural gas generators by H1 2028
Powering a campus of this scale at speed is the critical engineering challenge, and Nscale’s solution is to go off-grid rather than wait for utility-scale grid connections that could take years to secure. Through a strategic collaboration with Caterpillar, the company will deploy G3500 series natural gas generator sets to achieve two gigawatts of on-site power generation by the first half of 2028.
The campus will operate independently of the local electricity grid, which Nscale says eliminates the burden on existing utility customers and protects ratepayers’ bills. The design also allows for future connection to the grid and potential export of power back to it.
“Projects like Monarch demonstrate how Caterpillar’s natural gas generation platforms are being deployed as core infrastructure for data centers and other power intensive applications where reliability, speed of deployment, and lifecycle performance are critical.” – Melissa Busen, Senior Vice President of Electric Power, Caterpillar
Nscale is also pursuing carbon sequestration to offset emissions from the natural gas generators, citing access to sequestration capacity in West Virginia.
The company says the high-efficiency design consumes less water with no impact on municipal supply even at full 8GW capacity, a claim it has not independently substantiated but which reflects the regulatory and community sensitivity that large-scale AI campuses now face in their siting decisions.
The Monarch deal deepens an existing commercial relationship. Microsoft is already a customer at Nscale’s Narvik data centre in Norway, where the company has operational capacity today as part of its European infrastructure footprint. Aker ASA’s CEO, Øyvind Eriksen, who sits on the Nscale board following the company’s integration of the Aker Nscale joint venture, confirmed in a regulatory filing on 16 March that the Monarch LOI further strengthens a collaboration that is already generating revenue for Nscale.
“Microsoft’s datacenter approach is to build the best global infrastructure informed by near-term and long-term demand. Our investments blend owned datacenters, leased facilities, and strategic collaborations. This collaboration with Nscale and NVIDIA is an important step to deliver meaningful AI innovation to our customers.” – Jon Tinter, President, Business Development and Ventures, Microsoft
“AI is becoming essential infrastructure for every industry. With this large-scale NVIDIA DSX AI Factory Blueprint, Nscale is building the infrastructure required to produce intelligence at industrial scale and power the next wave of global innovation.” – Nico Caprez, Vice President, Global AI Infrastructure Growth, NVIDIA
Context: Nscale at $14.6 billion, one week in
The Monarch announcement lands one week after Nscale closed what it has called the largest Series C in European history: $2 billion led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, with participation from Astra Capital Management, Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, Lenovo, Linden Advisors, Nokia, NVIDIA, and Point72.
That round valued the UK-based company at $14.6 billion and was placed by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, an advisory combination widely read as early IPO preparation. Nscale CEO Josh Payne has previously indicated the company may seek to go public as early as 2026.
Founded in 2024, Nscale has moved with unusual speed. Its current operational data centre footprint includes sites in Glomfjord and Narvik in Norway, Loughton in the UK, and Texas in the US. In February 2026, it signed a $1.4 billion delayed draw term loan backed by its GPU fleet.
The Monarch acquisition, when combined with its existing 1GW-plus of operational capacity and the Microsoft LOI, positions the company as one of the largest announced AI compute deployments in the US market today, if it executes.
The proximity of the Mason County site to major AI and cloud hubs is a deliberate feature of the selection: Nscale cites its relatively short distance from Ashburn, Virginia, the world’s densest data centre cluster, and Chicago, offering customers low latency for AI workloads that require fast connection to adjacent infrastructure.
