Nvidia has reportedly invested $683 million in Nscale, a UK-based AI infrastructure company that was spun off from the cryptocurrency mining firm Arkon Energy. The investment, announced by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang according to a Bloomberg report, is part of a larger initiative to strengthen the United Kingdom’s artificial intelligence capabilities.
The partnership aims to expand the UK’s GPU capacity to 60,000 units by 2026, with the hardware set to be deployed in Nscale’s data centers.
A key part of the UK’s national AI strategy
Nscale was established as an independent company in May 2024 to provide AI cloud services across Europe. The investment aligns with the UK government’s push to develop a robust national AI infrastructure. In January 2025, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a plan with 50 recommendations to boost economic growth through AI. In support of this goal, Nscale, along with Vantage Data Centres and Kyndryl, has pledged a combined investment of approximately $17 billion for AI infrastructure development.
Nscale CEO Josh Payne highlighted the strategic significance of the expansion.
“Sovereign AI infrastructure is key to national resilience, economic growth and strategic autonomy. This milestone deepens our commitment to providing critical AI infrastructure for the next industrial revolution.”
Nvidia’s central role in the global AI market
The investment underscores Nvidia’s dominant position in the global AI landscape. The California-based chip designer reached a market capitalization of $4 trillion in July 2024, driven by strong investor confidence in AI technologies. At that time, Nvidia’s valuation was slightly higher than the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, which has since stabilized around the same $4 trillion mark.
The collaboration between Nvidia and Nscale illustrates the convergence of cryptocurrency’s infrastructure origins with the high-performance computing demands of AI.
Such investments are critical for advancing innovation while also addressing national priorities like data sovereignty and economic competitiveness.