West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey has congratulated data center operator Nscale following reports that AI company Anthropic has agreed to spend approximately USD 45 billion over six years for artificial intelligence computing capacity at Nscale's flagship West Virginia data center campus.

Scale and Scope of the Agreement

According to Bloomberg, as cited by the governor's office, the agreement represents approximately 460 megawatts of computing capacity.

Nscale will deploy NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin technology to support Anthropic's growing AI computing requirements under the terms of the reported deal.

The announcement, made August 27, 2026, positions West Virginia as a significant player in the national race to build out infrastructure capable of supporting the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence industry. Governor Morrisey described the development as an extraordinary vote of confidence in the state.

"We knew artificial intelligence would require extraordinary amounts of computing power, reliable energy, and private investment, and we knew West Virginia had the resources to meet that demand," Morrisey said in a statement.

He also credited State Senator Glenn Jefferies, whom he described as having been aggressively marketing West Virginia to attract major assets of this nature.

Legislative Framework Behind the Deals

The governor's office pointed to regulatory groundwork laid ahead of the agreement as a contributing factor in securing the investment. Governor Morrisey championed legislation designed to provide regulatory and siting certainty for developments involving billions of dollars in private capital and hundreds of megawatts of power.

The legislation Morrissey signed includes provisions specifically aimed at preventing the infrastructure costs associated with large-scale data center developments from being passed on to existing residential and business ratepayers.

Under the law, 50 percent of revenue generated through the state's microgrid framework is dedicated to reducing and ultimately eliminating the state income tax.

Additional revenue under the framework is directed to host counties, communities across West Virginia, and infrastructure improvements.

The structure of the legislation reflects an effort by state officials to ensure that the economic benefits of large-scale AI infrastructure investment flow broadly to West Virginia residents rather than being concentrated in the hands of private developers or burdening existing utility customers.

West Virginia's Energy Positioning

The reported Anthropic-Nscale agreement fits into a broader energy and economic development strategy that the Morrissey administration has been pursuing.

The governor's 50 by 50 energy strategy seeks to expand West Virginia's power generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.

The stated goal of that initiative is to provide the reliable energy supply needed to support artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and other industries with intensive power demands.

Governor Morrisey framed West Virginia's historical role as an energy producer as a foundation for its emerging role in the AI economy.

"West Virginia has powered America for generations, and now we have an opportunity to power the AI revolution," he said.

"With our abundant energy reserves, available land, and skilled workforce, we are committed to moving at the speed of business while ensuring West Virginians directly benefit from the growth."

Broader Ecosystem Ambitions

State officials were careful to characterize the Nscale-Anthropic development not as an isolated win but as one element of a larger strategy to build a self-reinforcing ecosystem of interconnected industries.

Governor Morrisey indicated that the state's ambitions extend to linking energy production, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and manufacturing into a coordinated growth strategy.

"This is bigger than one project," Morrisey said.

"We are building an ecosystem where energy production, artificial intelligence, advanced computing and manufacturing can grow together.

We said West Virginia intended to compete at the highest level for the industries of the future. Today, the world is seeing what that means."

The governor's office issued its statement from Charleston, where state officials have been working to position West Virginia as a destination for capital-intensive technology infrastructure at a time when demand for AI computing capacity has been growing rapidly across the industry.

The combination of available land, existing energy infrastructure, and the regulatory certainty created by the legislation Morrisey signed formed the basis of the state's pitch to companies like Nscale and its customers.

The reported six-year duration of the Anthropic computing agreement and the involvement of NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform, described as next-generation technology, underscore the long-term and forward-looking nature of the infrastructure being built at Nscale's West Virginia campus.