According to CoinMeta, Microsoft has rejected an option to extend a contract with the British artificial intelligence startup nscale for a data center in Texas, which constitutes a new blow to nscale's IPO. nscale plans to go public with a valuation of $35 billion. Earlier this year, Microsoft also withdrew from a $3 billion deal with nscale in Essex, UK. nscale reported revenue of $141 million in the first half of 2026, with a loss of $1 billion. The stock price of nscale's investor, Aker, in Oslo fell by 7.5% due to this news.