Sept 10 (Reuters) – The Pentagon is in talks to lend about $5 billion to AI cloud-computing startup Fluidstack to shore up the U.S. data center supply chain, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The money would come from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, the newspaper said.
Fluidstack would use the loan to shore up the U.S. supply chain and manufacturing capacity for certain data center-related components, rather than funding a new AI facility outright, WSJ added.
The U.S. Department of Defense and Fluidstack did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month declaring a national emergency and banning the use of some foreign equipment in the U.S. electricity grid, which is used by data centers.
The Office of Strategic Capital has struck previous deals with rare earth companies Vulcan Elements, Phoenix Tailings and Energy Fuels.
It has also struck deals to provide funding to some drone companies, including Unusual Machines and Sequoia Capital-backed Neros, the WSJ previously reported.
(Reporting by Carlos Méndez in Mexico City; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
