Anthropic is negotiating a second multibillion-dollar agreement with UK-based cloud provider Nscale to lease computing capacity, according to a source who spoke to CNBC. The deal would cover a second 460-megawatt data center at the same West Virginia site as an earlier agreement reported in August, and could be worth roughly $45 billion. Anthropic declined to comment, and Nscale has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, the Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa are being brought back online after years of shutdown, together expected to add 2.25 GW to the grid. Palisades, which had begun decommissioning, is furthest along and is projected to generate 800 MW by March 2027, while Crane's Unit 1 is expected to add 835 MW in 2027 under a 20-year supply deal with Microsoft. Each project relied on Department of Energy loans, with Palisades funded under a 2024 Biden-era program and the others under a 2025 Trump administration initiative.
In his book 'Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires,' journalist Paris Marx recounts visiting heavily secured data centers in Virginia and Ireland operated by companies including Microsoft. He reports that Amazon, Microsoft and Google together control 59% of hyperscale data center capacity, and that modern AI-driven facilities can require roughly triple the power of older large data centers, around 50 megawatts previously versus much higher now.
Slate Auto has opened its first physical showroom, the Slate Customer Experience Center, in Chicago's Fulton Market District, located in a former Tesla store and staffed partly by ex-Tesla employees. Visitors can view a prototype of the company's stripped-down electric pickup, customize interior color panels, buy merchandise, and place a $300 deposit to reserve a Slate Truck priced at $24,950 with a projected 205-mile range.
HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery told CNBC that AI is transformational and will boost productivity across the bank, but warned investors to be selective when backing data center infrastructure. He said quality of tenancy agreements and contract pricing vary widely, with some deals far less sound than others.
South Korean data-center startup Elice saw its stock fall as much as 36% in afternoon trading on its first day as a publicly listed company in Seoul. The sharp decline came despite the company's AI-infrastructure focus, an area that has generally drawn strong investor interest.
CNBC's Jim Cramer said investors should not chase Monday's tech rebound, which saw the Nasdaq Composite rise about 1.1% after last week's AI stock selloff pushed the index below its 50-day moving average. Cramer identified four conditions he wants met before turning bullish again on data center stocks: improved chart patterns, hyperscaler earnings reports, the election concluding, and Anthropic completing its IPO.
Japan's space agency JAXA is launching the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft from Tanegashima Space Center, aiming to reach Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos after about a year of travel. The mission will study both moons remotely and collect physical samples from Phobos to return to Earth, following three earlier Russian attempts that all failed.
Japan's space agency JAXA, with NASA support, launched the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission from Tanegashima Space Center to study Mars' moons Deimos and Phobos. The spacecraft aims to collect a sample from Phobos' surface and return it to Earth, a first if successful. NASA officials, including Nicky Fox and Tom Statler, say the samples could offer new insight into the moons' origins and the early solar system.
A new report from the Environmental Defense Fund and Atlas Public Policy finds that planned fossil fuel power capacity jumped from 5% of new US electricity projects in 2024 to 30% by mid-2026, even as electricity demand rises due to data centers, factories and EVs. The report notes solar and wind still generate more power than coal and that solar was the fastest-growing source added in 2024, but warns gas development could reach 68 gigawatts by 2030 if current trends hold.
A roughly 11-foot-diameter metal object, believed to be debris from a Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket, was found in a cornfield in Scott Township, Minnesota, during fall harvest. The rocket had launched from Dongfeng in China on September 15, deployed 10 satellites, then reentered the atmosphere without completing a full orbit, with fiery debris seen streaking over Kansas and Minnesota that night. The Stevens County Sheriff's Office said it is working with state and federal agencies to identify the object's owner and arrange removal.
Anthropic announced plans, pending shareholder approval, to commit 5% of its shares to a newly created public benefit fund structured as a wholly owned LLC. The board could add 2% more for every 50% rise in company valuation above an undisclosed baseline, with proceeds potentially funding large donations or new approaches to address AI-driven job displacement. The fund will not be used for lobbying or political giving, and comes as Anthropic reports $16.8 billion in third-quarter revenue ahead of a reported November IPO.
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