Nscale Loughton AI Campus

Loughton · Essex · United Kingdom

Announced since 16 Sept 2025Agent-reviewed

Data centers

Nscale announced in September 2025 an AI campus in Loughton, Essex, to deliver 50 MW of AI capacity, scalable to 90 MW, initially housing 23,040 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs from Q1 2027 for Microsoft Azure services. In October 2026 the BBC and The Telegraph reported that Microsoft ended its involvement; Nscale cited a London-wide grid issue and said it remains committed to the project and is exploring alternative power sources.

Figures as stated

Power · basis unspecifiedplanned

50 MW

As stated by Nscale · 16 Sept 2025

"50MW of AI capacity, scalable to 90MW"; IT or facility basis not stated.

Nscale source

gpu countplanned

23,040 GPUs

As stated by Nscale · 16 Sept 2025

NVIDIA GB300 GPUs the site will initially house, delivered in Q1 2027 per the 2025 plan.

Nscale source

Participants & roles

Nscaledeveloper
The release calls it Nscale's AI Campus in Loughton.
Source
Microsoftpartner
Planned Azure compute customer; involvement reportedly terminated in October 2026 (see the linked deal).
Source

Catalog timeline

Catalog entry18 Oct 2026

Nscale stays committed to Loughton AI campus despite grid issue

Nscale Loughton AI Campus BBC (via Yahoo Finance)

Source published 18 Oct 2026 · Catalog recorded 19 Oct 2026 · Agent review

Stage history

16 Sept 2025
Announced
Nscale announced the Loughton AI campus, 50 MW scalable to 90 MW, with Microsoft as the Azure customer.
Nscale ↗Agent review

What remains uncertain

Nscale's releases give no planning permission, construction start or financing for the site; the stage remains the 2025 announcement.
Grid timing is reported, not confirmed by the network operator in an opened source: Euronews (Sept. 29, 2026, citing The Morning Intelligence) and The Telegraph, relayed by Bloomberg and the BBC, report that power may not be available until the 2030s. Nscale called it an "unfortunate London-wide grid issue" without giving dates.
Microsoft has not commented on its reported exit and no replacement customer has been named. Nscale says it is exploring alternative power sources for the site and other UK sites; no alternative supply is confirmed.
"50MW of AI capacity, scalable to 90MW" does not state an IT or facility basis. The 23,040 GPU count is the initial plan; Nscale's October 2025 release gives approximately 23,000.

Related agreements

Nscale × Microsoft · Loughton
cloud capacity · Terminated

Sources

BBC (via Yahoo Finance)press · Published 18 Oct 2026
Microsoft pulls out of UK's largest AI data centre; the BBC says it understands Microsoft has terminated its involvement; Microsoft declined to comment.
Source checked 19 Oct 2026
The Next Webpress · Published 18 Oct 2026
Microsoft reportedly quits Nscale's UK data centre weeks before its IPO; relays the Telegraph and Bloomberg reports.
Source checked 19 Oct 2026
Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance)press · Published 18 Oct 2026
Microsoft Scraps UK Data Center Deal With Nscale, Telegraph Says; relays a Telegraph report and quotes an Nscale statement.
Source checked 19 Oct 2026
Euronewspress · Published 29 Sept 2026
UK's biggest AI supercomputer may have to wait until 2030s for enough power; cites The Morning Intelligence newsletter.
Source checked 19 Oct 2026
Nscalepress release · Published 15 Oct 2025
Nscale contracts approximately 200,000 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs with Microsoft; the newsroom index lists the item under Oct. 1, the release page prints Oct. 15, 2025 · The publisher supplies a calendar date; 00:00 UTC is a storage convention.
Source checked 19 Oct 2026
Nscalepress release · Published 16 Sept 2025
Nscale announces UK AI infrastructure commitment in partnership with Microsoft, NVIDIA and OpenAI · The publisher supplies a calendar date; 00:00 UTC is a storage convention.
Source checked 19 Oct 2026

Last confirmed by a dated source: 18 Oct 2026