Anthropic has struck a deal with UK cloud computing start-up Nscale to rent capacity from its flagship data centre in West Virginia in an agreement worth roughly $45bn over six years. The tie-up adds to a web of deals for processing power the AI lab has rapidly woven together as it races to keep pace with surging demand ahead of an initial public offering planned for this autumn.

Anthropic will begin accessing 460 megawatts of Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin processors at the facility when the chips come online late next year, according to two people familiar with the matter. The company has recently signed computing agreements with Amazon and Space X and has raised tens of billions of dollars this year, largely to fund infrastructure. It has also held early talks with Meta about renting its computing power in what could be a multibillion-dollar deal.

Nscale, which is also preparing an IPO that could come as soon as next month, raised $2bn in March at a $14.6bn valuation in a round led by Norwegian energy group Aker and 8090 Industries, with backing from Nvidia, Dell and Nokia. Former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg are members of the group’s board. The company is working to build a 1.35GW data centre in Mason County, West Virginia, with a 2GW natural gas power plant on site.

Like many AI data centre projects, the 2,250-acre development has drawn pushback from locals concerned about noise and other impacts. Nscale this month published a report prepared by EY estimating the data centre would bring 2,090 jobs and $395mn in annual GDP contributions to Mason County when it begins operating, representing 36 per cent of the county’s entire economic output.