AI startup Nscale came out of nowhere and is blowing away Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Core Insights - Nscale, a UK-based AI infrastructure provider, has rapidly emerged as a key player in the AI market, raising $155 million in Series A funding last year and securing close to $700 million in capital from Nvidia [2][3]. - The company has signed a significant five-year agreement worth $6.2 billion with Microsoft and Aker to develop hyperscale AI infrastructure in Europe, particularly in Norway [4]. - Nscale is also collaborating with OpenAI on a $1 billion project to establish a data center in Norway, aiming to deploy 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by 2027 [5]. Company Development - Nscale was established as a spin-off from Arkon Energy, which initially focused on cryptocurrency mining, to meet the growing demand for AI-capable data centers [6]. - The company has quickly built a robust pipeline, growing its AI data center capacity from 300 megawatts to 1.3 gigawatts within a year [20]. - Nscale's CEO, Josh Payne, emphasized the need for large AI infrastructure projects in Europe to address computing capacity shortages and market fragmentation [8]. Strategic Partnerships - Nscale has been named an AI infrastructure partner for major companies including Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI, highlighting its strategic importance in the AI ecosystem [4][10]. - Microsoft has committed $15.5 billion to new computing equipment in the UK, with plans to build the largest supercomputer in the country in collaboration with Nscale [12]. - OpenAI plans to deploy 8,000 GPUs in the first phase of the Stargate U.K. project, with potential expansion to 31,000 GPUs [15]. Financial Backing and Growth - Nvidia has made a £500 million ($683 million) equity investment in Nscale, viewing it as a potential national champion for AI infrastructure in the UK [17]. - Nscale's rapid growth trajectory is comparable to that of CoreWeave, which has a market cap of $58 billion and has also transitioned from cryptocurrency to AI infrastructure [7]. - The company aims to deploy 50,000 GPUs by the end of 2025 and 150,000 by the end of 2026, supported by its recent funding and partnerships [24]. Market Context - The European market is increasingly focused on "sovereign AI," which requires data centers and AI workloads to be located within Europe, positioning Nscale as a critical player in this initiative [8]. - The UK government has laid out an AI "action plan" to reduce bureaucracy and support the domestic AI sector, further enhancing Nscale's growth prospects [8].