Bitcoin mining offshoot Nscale loses Microsoft AI deal as power delay stretches into 2030s
The Nvidia-backed company planned to deliver 23,000 AI chips in Britain next year, but its grid connection may not be ready until the 2030s.
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Summary
- Microsoft abandoned a planned Nscale AI data center in Essex after the local grid operator said sufficient power might not be available until the early-to-mid 2030s.
- The facility was expected to supply 50 megawatts of computing capacity to Microsoft’s Azure cloud by early 2027, using 23,040 Nvidia chips.
- The setback highlights the power and financing challenges facing bitcoin miners expanding into AI infrastructure, as Britain’s data center grid-connection requests total about 73 gigawatts.
