Microsoft has withdrawn as anchor tenant of Nscale's first British data centre in Loughton, Essex, weeks before the AI cloud startup plans to go public. The Telegraph reported the exit, while Bloomberg noted a series of delays at the site. Grid authorities told Nscale not to expect a power connection until the 2030s. For a company seeking to raise up to $3bn this month, losing a key customer reference matters.
Why Loughton stalled before the listing
Nscale confirmed it remains committed to the Loughton site and is examining alternative power sources and other UK locations. The company described the problem as a London-wide grid constraint, not a breakdown in its commercial ties. A spokesman said its relationship with Microsoft remains strong and long term, and the grid issue has no impact on other contracts. Microsoft did not comment to the Telegraph and did not immediately respond to Bloomberg. The report did not state a reason given by Microsoft for the withdrawal.
Nscale's IPO filing shows Microsoft and Anthropic account for about 85% of its contracted revenue. Anthropic agreed in August to spend $45bn on Nscale compute over six years. Microsoft separately signed a letter of intent tied to a campus in West Virginia. That structure concentrates demand in two buyers while the physical capacity is still being built. The Loughton exit therefore tests how portable those commitments are across sites.
The Loughton case follows an earlier report in July that the grid could not connect the site in time for its planned opening. Nscale's flagship site in Norway is also six months behind schedule, with only 6.4 megawatts of a planned 30-megawatt facility in operation. Delays of this kind are common where permits, construction, and high-voltage connections must align. For neoclouds, firms built specifically to supply AI computing capacity, timelines depend on infrastructure outside their control.
What this means for buyers of AI compute
For companies buying AI capacity, the episode underlines the gap between contracted megawatts and delivered megawatts. A signed agreement does not guarantee that a specific data centre will open on schedule if power is unavailable. Large customers can shift workloads to other campuses, as Microsoft and Anthropic have multiple options with Nscale. Smaller buyers with a single region or provider face longer waits and renegotiation if a site slips into the next decade.
The financing background raises the stakes for diligence. Many neocloud operators borrow heavily to fund construction, and investors have grown cautious. CoreWeave shares fell 25% last week, their worst week since November. Australia's Firmus cancelled its IPO after failing to secure enough support. Against that record, Nscale enters its listing with high customer concentration, delayed flagship capacity, and a UK project without grid power.
The marker to watch is whether Nscale secures a firm power solution for Loughton or a replacement UK site before or soon after the IPO. A dated grid offer, a signed alternative supply deal, or a new anchor tenant would show the pipeline can survive location risk. Without that, the business remains dependent on Norway, future US capacity, and two dominant customers. The next filings and construction updates will show which part moves first.
