AI news · Nscale · data centres
Microsoft drops its deal for Nscale’s Essex AI data centre
Nscale loses the only named customer for its Loughton site, while some investors reportedly want a lower price for its share listing.
Microsoft has walked away from its deal to be the main tenant of Nscale’s planned AI data centre in Loughton, Essex, the Guardian reports, following a Telegraph scoop on Sunday 18 October 2026. Nscale is a British “neocloud”, a company that rents out Nvidia-powered computing for AI. Ministers once billed Loughton as the UK’s largest sovereign AI data centre.
Power supply is the reported reason. Loughton cannot get enough grid electricity before the early to mid-2030s, the local operator UK Power Networks has told Nscale, the Guardian says. Microsoft cited power delays, Bloomberg reports via PYMNTS, though it declined to comment to Capital Brief.
Nscale says it is sticking with Loughton, is looking for other ways to power it, and that its other contracts are unaffected. Microsoft is still a customer at Nscale’s Norway project, the Guardian understands.
The loss lands during Nscale’s push for a New York listing, filed on 18 September. Some backers want a valuation of $16 billion to $19 billion, against the roughly $30 billion Nscale is reportedly aiming for, Bloomberg reports via PYMNTS.
For anyone renting AI computing, a new data centre is only as real as the power line that feeds it.
Sources
- The Guardian: Microsoft pulls out of AI datacentre project in Essex over power supply concerns. Checked
- Capital Brief: Microsoft pulls the plug on Aussie-founded Nscale. Checked
- PYMNTS: Nscale Investors Seek Lower IPO Target Amid AI-Related Concerns. Checked
Alexandre S.
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