Microsoft refused to more‑than‑double an existing compute‑lease at a Texas data
center with UK AI start‑up Nscale, aborting a potential expansion deal worth up
to several tens of billions of dollars. Without Microsoft as an anchor tenant,
Nscale must secure new customers for the Texas facility or risk losing billions
of projected revenue and jeopardising its $35bn IPO plan. Local political
backlash to AI data‑center construction — which affected some midterm results —
and calls by incoming Democratic governors in states including Texas for
immediate development pauses add permitting and regulatory risk to future
capacity plans.
