Nscale has announced an expansion of its collaboration with Microsoft and Start Campus that will see more than 66,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs deployed at the SINES Data Campus in Portugal, with the deployment scheduled to begin in late 2027.

The agreement, announced May 5, 2026, represents one of the most significant AI infrastructure investments in Portugal's history and among the largest such deployments in the European Union.

Scale of the Investment

The financial scope of the deal is substantial. Nscale is committing an additional USD 269.10 million in shared infrastructure alongside USD 544.05 million toward a second 200-megawatt building at the SINES Data Campus. The new facility will sit alongside an existing building where Nscale has already deployed over 12,600 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs for Microsoft.

The agreement extends Nscale's existing footprint with Microsoft, which already spans deployments in Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Portuguese expansion represents the latest and largest iteration of that ongoing relationship, with Nscale describing it as one of the most advanced environments in Europe for high-density AI infrastructure.

The SINES Data Campus

Start Campus is building and operating the SINES Data Campus as a 1.2-gigawatt data center facility in Sines, Portugal. The company has received full permits for the entire 1.2-gigawatt capacity, which Nscale cited as a critical factor in planning for long-term AI compute demand expected to rise sharply through 2030.

Start Campus describes the campus as targeting an industry-leading Power Usage Effectiveness rating of 1.1 and a Water Usage Effectiveness rating of zero, achieved by harnessing ocean cooling.

The campus operates on 100 percent renewable energy and incorporates liquid cooling technologies into its design. Start Campus offers customers powered shell, turnkey, and build-to-suit solutions.

The company is backed by Davidson Kempner, with Daniel Boehm, a partner at Davidson Kempner, noting that the firm's continued commitment underpins the platform's ability to scale.

Robert Dunn, CEO of Start Campus, described Sines as one of Europe's leading destinations for large-scale AI infrastructure. "Building on our existing agreement, this expansion by Nscale will be one of Europe's largest NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 deployments," Dunn said.

"As we progress towards our 1.2GW vision, our focus remains on delivering secure, sustainable, and globally connected infrastructure — underpinned by renewable energy and designed to support Europe's long-term competitiveness in the AI era."

NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 Systems

The GPU systems at the center of the agreement are NVIDIA's Vera Rubin NVL72 units, which Nscale is positioning as purpose-built for frontier AI workloads. The deployment of more than 66,000 of these GPUs would constitute one of the largest such deployments in the European Union, according to the company's announcement.

The Vera Rubin NVL72 systems represent NVIDIA's next generation of compute hardware, succeeding the Blackwell Ultra architecture already installed in the campus's first building.

Josh Payne, CEO and Founder of Nscale, said the expanded deployment creates one of the most advanced environments in Europe for high-density AI infrastructure.

"This partnership enables the deployment of next-generation AI compute at the scale and efficiency required for frontier workloads," Payne said. "It also represents one of the largest AI infrastructure investments in Portugal's history, and among the most significant in the EU, reflecting the surging demand we're seeing for Nscale's services."

Portugal's Strategic Position

The investment adds to a growing narrative around Portugal, and Sines specifically, as an emerging hub for European AI infrastructure. Start Campus and Nscale both pointed to the site's full permitting for 1.2 gigawatts of capacity as a distinguishing factor, given the constraints that power availability and new capacity construction are expected to place on AI infrastructure buildout through the end of the decade.

The campus's Atlantic coastal location supports its zero water usage effectiveness target through ocean-based cooling, while its connectivity is cited as providing a gateway for both European and global AI workloads. Davidson Kempner's Boehm said the expansion "reinforces Portugal's emergence as an AI leader in Europe."

Nscale's Broader Infrastructure Strategy

Nscale describes itself as a vertically integrated AI infrastructure company that owns and operates the full stack spanning energy, data centers, GPU compute, and software.

The Portugal agreement is one element of a broader buildout. Separate announcements from Nscale reference a letter of intent with Microsoft to supply 1.35 gigawatts of NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 compute at a facility in West Virginia, described as the Monarch AI Campus, as well as an agreement to acquire American Intelligence and Power Corporation, a company sponsored by Fidelis New Energy and 8090 Partners.

The SINES campus expansion is framed by Nscale as a direct response to accelerating enterprise and government demand for sovereign AI compute capacity in Europe, with the company citing the need for infrastructure that is secure, sustainable, and capable of supporting high-density AI training and deployment workloads.

The deployment timeline begins in late 2027, with the 200-megawatt second building representing the primary new construction component of the agreement.

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