Pentagon Negotiates $5B Fluidstack Loan for AI Power and Cooling Supply

The Pentagon is discussing a potential $5 billion loan to AI cloud startup Fluidstack, putting the Defense Department in negotiations over the equipment supply chain behind AI data centers. The proposed financing would support U.S. capacity for power equipment and cooling gear, rather than directly build a new data center.

The talks are being conducted through the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, or OSC. If completed at the reported scale, the financing would be the office’s largest single loan. For now, it is a negotiation, not an approved award: the amount, interest rate and other terms could change before funds are disbursed.

A proposed bet on the equipment layer

The plan is aimed upstream of the buildings and GPU clusters that run AI models. Fluidstack may use the financing to strengthen domestic supply chains and manufacturing capacity for the components that deliver power and remove heat, instead of constructing data centers directly.

$5 billionPotential OSC loan

If finalized at the reported amount, the Fluidstack financing would be OSC’s largest single loan.

That would give Fluidstack a potential role beyond operating AI computing capacity. The company runs an AI cloud platform focused on high-performance GPU clusters for training and inference, and it has signed multiyear leases for data-center sites in New York, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas. The loan talks point to a separate potential role: helping expand the industrial inputs those sites require.

Why Fluidstack is part of the talks

Fluidstack operates in the AI cloud-computing, or neocloud, market. Its work has included renting GPU capacity and running AI supercomputer projects inside third-party data centers.

• Fluidstack was founded in the United Kingdom in 2017 and moved its global headquarters to New York in December 2025.
• The company has 700 employees based in the United States, according to the report.
• Fluidstack is pursuing the loan application with guidance from Erebor Bank.

The next move is a final agreement

A Defense Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on pending or ongoing negotiations before an official release. The reported purpose and scale make the talks consequential, but the practical commitment will depend on terms that have not been made public.

The distinction is central: the Pentagon is considering backing Fluidstack’s proposed expansion of upstream AI-infrastructure capacity, not directly financing the construction of a data center. Whether that plan proceeds depends on negotiations that have not yet produced a signed deal or disbursement.