The Pentagon is in talks to lend Fluidstack roughly $5 billion to shore up the US data-center supply chain, the Wall Street Journal reported on September 10, per Reuters. The money would come from the Office of Strategic Capital and would fund manufacturing capacity for data-center components, with no new AI facility in the plan, per Tech Startups. Nothing is final. A week earlier Fluidstack closed a $1.5 billion round at an $18 billion valuation, per Forbes, up from $7.5 billion in January, per TechCrunch. It builds Anthropic's data centers in New York and Texas.
Federal debt, at scale. The Journal's report says $5 billion would be by far the office's largest loan, and its published commitments include $725 million to Energy Fuels, per the Department of War. Against the fresh round, the loan is more than three times the equity and costs no ownership. Everyone who just bought in at $18 billion keeps their stake, and the company adds a creditor that ranks ahead of all of them and answers to national-security priorities. Founders will like the dilution math. Later-stage investors should read the covenants before the next mark.
Add it to this month's financing map: Nvidia puts cash into Nscale, Qualcomm pays Amazon in warrants, and the Pentagon may now lend into the supply chain behind Anthropic's builder.
Bottom Line
A $5 billion government loan would hand Fluidstack non-dilutive capital worth more than triple its latest round. Until terms are public, model it as a senior claim with policy strings attached when you value the equity.