Nvidia reportedly plans to invest up to $3 billion in Lancium, a Texas-based power infrastructure developer whose sites support some of the largest artificial intelligence data centers in the US.
According to The Information, Nvidia would initially invest $2 billion for a stake of approximately 20% in the company.
The chipmaker could invest a further $1 billion if Lancium meets certain targets, including securing additional connections to the electricity grid.
The reported agreement would give Lancium and its portfolio of land and power connections an enterprise value of around $10 billion. Nvidia and Lancium have not commented on the report so far.
Power connections central to reported deal
Lancium specializes in acquiring land, securing grid connections and developing the energy infrastructure required by large computing campuses.
These capabilities have become very valuable as tech giants race to build data centers that can accomodate hundreds of thousands of AI processors. In many areas, access to electricity and transmission infrastructure is becoming as important as the availability of computing hardware.
Making part of Nvidia’s investment conditional on additional grid connections highlights the commercial value of approved power capacity.
The capital would also help Lancium expand its portfolio as the company considers a possible initial public offering in 2027.
Lancium owns major Stargate campus
Lancium owns the more than 1,000-acre Lancium Clean Campus in Abilene, Texas, which became the first site associated with the Stargate AI infrastructure initiative.
At the Abilene site, Lancium owns the campus and manages its power infrastructure. Crusoe is responsible for designing, constructing and operating the data centers.
The campus is planned to reach 1.2 gigawatts of capacity, with eight buildings covering approximately 4 million square feet.
Michael McNamara, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lancium, said in an earlier announcement about the project: “Operating data centers at this scale and beyond demands campus level innovation to ensure grid reliability under all workloads.”
Texas increases scrutiny of data centers
The timing of the proposed investment is significant. On August 3, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered an audit of data-center projects seeking permission to connect to the state’s electricity grid.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is considering more than 474 gigawatts of connection requests. Approximately 90% of the requested capacity is associated with data centers.
These applications do not represent confirmed future electricity demand, as many proposed projects may never be built. However, their scale illustrates the competition among developers seeking access to the Texas grid.
