Nscale Seeks $3.5B: Dell & Nokia's AI Bet Grows

Nscale, an AI infrastructure company, is reportedly in talks to secure about $3.5 billion in pre-IPO financing as of September 4, 2026. This potential funding is significant for existing partners Dell Technologies and Nokia Oyj, who have prior commercial and investment relationships with Nscale. Dell announced a collaboration in November 2025, featuring its PowerEdge XE9712 servers and rack integration alongside NVIDIA's platform. For Dell, successful customer funding could reduce barriers to infrastructure deployment. Nokia was named a preferred networking partner in September 2025, covering data center switching, IP routing, and optical networking. This partnership offers Nokia exposure to AI infrastructure expansion budgets. However, Nscale's funding does not guarantee exclusivity for either Dell or Nokia, and they may partner with other suppliers. The investment relationships add another layer, with suppliers potentially supporting Nscale's development while assuming investment risk. The disclosed relationships alone do not confirm future commercial returns justifying the capital.