News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Polar Expands Partnership with Crusoe in Norway with New 40MW AI Infrastructure Development
DRA01 facility now live and powering Crusoe Cloud, as partnership expands into DRA02 to support continued growth of AI infrastructure in Europe LONDON, Oct. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Polar Data Centers ("Polar"), a European developer and operator of AI-ready data center infrastructure, today announced the expansion of its partnership with Crusoe, the AI factory company, building on the successful deployment and operation of Crusoe's AI infrastructure at Polar's DRA01 facility in Tørdal, Norway. DRA01 is now live, providing 12MW of IT capacity, powered by 100% hydroelectric energy. The facility combines modular infrastructure, advanced cooling technology, and resilient electrical systems designed around the requirements of the latest GPU deployments, providing a best-in-class, operational environment to support Crusoe Cloud, Crusoe's AI cloud platform and AI services. The move from initial deployment into stable operations represents an important milestone for the partnership and demonstrates the companies' ability to deliver and operate infrastructure for the world's most demanding AI workloads. Polar and Crusoe first announced their partnership around DRA01 in June 2025. Building on that success, the companies are now expanding their relationship with DRA02, the next phase of Polar's Tørdal campus. The new facility, also powered by hydroelectric power, is expected to go live in late 2027, and plans to deliver an additional 40MW of critical, liquid-cooled IT capacity. Crusoe plans to deploy NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 at DRA02 to support the next phase of its AI cloud expansion in Norway. It significantly increases the scale available to support Crusoe Cloud's continued growth in Europe and beyond. The expansion reflects Polar's approach to developing long-term customer partnerships: delivering initial capacity successfully, operating it reliably, and creating a platform that can scale as customers' requirements grow. Andy Hayes, CEO of Polar, said: "Our ambition has always been to help our customers develop the future of AI, and our relationship with Crusoe is a great example of that in action. We've successfully delivered DRA01, Crusoe is live and operating in Norway, and we're now moving forward together with the next phase of our partnership. "The expansion into DRA02 demonstrates the strength of the collaboration and the confidence that comes from successful delivery. For Polar, it's about much more than bringing capacity online. It's about creating the infrastructure, operational performance, and customer relationships that enable our customers to continue scaling." Cully Cavness, Crusoe's Co-founder, President and Chief Strategy Officer commented: "Our expansion with Polar in Norway lets Crusoe serve some of the world's most innovative companies with reliable access to Crusoe Cloud's AI cloud services. What makes Tørdal stand out is that it runs on 100% renewable hydroelectric power -- the kind of innovative energy source that aligns with our value of bending the arc of energy towards sustainability. Polar has been a solid partner to help us scale our presence in Europe." The successful transition into live operations follows DRA01 being recognised as "Most Successfully Delivered Data Centre" at the Data Centre World Awards 2026, highlighting the quality and execution behind Polar's first major Norwegian deployment. The move into DRA02 takes that relationship to its next stage and supports Polar's wider vision to accelerate AI infrastructure and create the infrastructure platform customers need to develop the future of AI. About Polar Data Centers Polar develops and operates high-performance data centers optimised for AI and high-density computing workloads. The company is building a growing European platform of AI-ready infrastructure, combining renewable power, resilient design, high-density cooling capability, and a customer-led approach to development and operations. About Crusoe As the AI factory company, Crusoe is on a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. The company provides a reliable, scalable, cost-effective, energy-first solution for AI infrastructure. By harnessing large-scale energy sources, building AI-optimized data centers, and delivering a powerful AI cloud platform, Crusoe empowers its customers and partners to build the future faster. For more information, visit crusoe.ai.
Beloved Dachshund Crusoe Is Still Enjoying Little Adventures as He Nears 17
Crusoe the Dachshund somehow turned being a dog into a full entertainment career and made it look easy. Costumes, elaborate storylines, bestselling books: the guy built an empire on legs barely long enough to clear a curb. Fans have followed his adventures for over a decade, and now, as he approaches 17, he's reminding everyone that an adventure doesn't have to be elaborate to mean something. I've followed Crusoe for years, and writing this gave me a reality check about how quickly time moves. It feels like yesterday that he was starring in those silly little videos, and now he's nearly 17. Seriously, where did all that time go? The beloved miniature dachshund turns 17 on Oct. 28. Alongside his siblings Oakley and Daphne, he's entertained millions with adventures that have grown from simple sketches into elaborate productions. These days, his family also shares quieter moments, which longtime fans have come to appreciate just as much. Crusoe first found fame through funny videos before graduating to elaborate YouTube productions. He's played everything from a chef to a superhero, and his adventures inspired bestselling books. Not bad for someone roughly the length of a loaf of bread. A Little Dog With a Remarkably Big Career But his journey hasn't been without challenges. Crusoe has undergone surgeries and dealt with intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), a spinal condition that can be especially serious for dachshunds. His family has openly documented his experiences and supported veterinary research. PawNation recently featured an 18-year-old dachshund named Daisy navigating the little challenges of growing older, another reminder that senior dogs still have plenty of personality, even when their routines begin to change. Through it all, Crusoe has remained unmistakably himself. The costumes might be fewer these days, but his personality never needed particularly long legs to make an impression. Nearly 17, and Still Making Memories For longtime fans, Crusoe's recent updates offer something different from the elaborate sketches that made him famous. They're opportunities to appreciate the little dog behind all those characters, enjoying life at his own pace. Crusoe has already accomplished more than most internet celebrities could fit into a résumé. He's written books, starred in videos, won awards, and helped bring attention to canine spinal health. But as he approaches 17, he doesn't need another accomplishment to make people smile. After all these years of entertaining the world, it's rather nice to see him enjoy a little of it for himself.
Nscale and Anthropic in talks for US$45 billion AI deal
The talks come as investors question heavy debt used to build AI infrastructure. Nscale also faces setbacks after Microsoft pulled out of a flagship data centre deal over power delays. Nscale is in talks to sell AI computing power to Claude maker Anthropic in a new deal that could be worth about US$45 billion (S$58 billion), a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Oct 19. The data centre developer is seeking another major deal with the AI lab for a second facility at its Monarch data centre campus in West Virginia, the person said. In August, Anthropic struck a deal to spend US$45 billion to rent AI cloud computing power from Nscale's West Virginia data centre campus. A second Monarch building would deliver 460 megawatts of computing power using Nvidia's advanced Vera Rubin AI chips, according to the source. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Anthropic also has the right of first refusal on Monarch's expected third building, the person said, adding discussions were ongoing and details of the plan could change. Bloomberg, which first reported the news, also said a cohort of investors had urged Anthropic to lower its IPO valuation target after a series of market setbacks for AI companies. Investors have sharpened scrutiny of companies that are increasingly turning to debt-driven AI infrastructure expansion. Last week, Nscale rival CoreWeave's shares slumped amid concerns over its US$50 billion debt load, fuelling a global selloff in AI stocks. The news of a potential tie-up comes after Microsoft pulled out of a deal to anchor a flagship data centre for Nscale following power connection delays that pushed its expected supply date into the 2030s. Nscale has grown rapidly since launch, increasing its total contracted value from US$100 million to more than US$103 billion in two-and-a-half years and competing with Nebius, Crusoe and Lambda. According to the Nscale prospectus, Microsoft and Anthropic are expected to be the company's major customers in the future. REUTERS
Nvidia-backed Nscale, Anthropic in talks for new $45 billion AI cloud deal, source says
NSCALE is in talks to sell AI computing power to Claude maker Anthropic in a new deal that could be worth about $45 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The data center developer is seeking another major deal with the AI lab for a second facility at its Monarch data center campus in West Virginia, the person said. In August, Anthropic struck a deal to spend $45 billion to rent AI cloud computing power from Nscale's West Virginia data center campus. A second Monarch building would deliver 460 megawatts of computing power using Nvidia's advanced Vera Rubin AI chips, according to the source. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Anthropic also has the right of first refusal on Monarch's expected third building, the person said, adding discussions were ongoing and details of the plan could change. Bloomberg, which first reported the news, also said a cohort of investors had urged Anthropic to lower its IPO valuation target after a series of market setbacks for AI companies. Investors have sharpened scrutiny of companies that are increasingly turning to debt-driven AI infrastructure expansion. Last week, Nscale rival CoreWeave's shares slumped amid concerns over its $50 billion debt load, fueling a global selloff in AI stocks. The news of a potential tie-up comes after Microsoft pulled out of a deal to anchor a flagship data center for Nscale following power connection delays that pushed its expected supply date into the 2030s. Nscale has grown rapidly since launch, increasing its total contracted value from $100 million to more than $103 billion in two-and-a-half years and competing with Nebius, Crusoe and Lambda. According to the Nscale prospectus, Microsoft and Anthropic are expected to be the company's major customers in the future. -- Reuters
Perplexity AI open-sources its secure AI agent sandbox SPACE
Perplexity AI open-sources its secure AI agent sandbox SPACE The artificial intelligence search engine startup Perplexity AI Inc. is shifting its focus to AI agent security in the wake of several high-profile incidents that saw autonomous systems escape from secure environments and go on to wreak havoc on third-party websites. The company has developed an AI sandbox specifically for isolating AI agents called SPACE, and it's being made open source from today, which means every developer can use the tool to secure their own systems. SPACE is already being deployed by partners including CoreWeave Inc., Akamai Technologies Inc. and Crusoe Inc., which all offer cloud-hosted infrastructure platforms for AI systems. AI sandboxes are the main barrier that prevents AI agents from causing problems like leaking sensitive data or going off and hacking other systems. They're secure, isolated virtual environments where autonomous agents can run third-party software, browse the internet and execute tasks without risking the security of the host computer, the broader corporate network or underlying data center. By giving each AI agent its own walled-off computer in the cloud, if it makes a mistake, runs a destructive command or is manipulated by adversarial prompts, the damage it does will be contained within that environment. The only problem with AI sandboxes is their security isn't always foolproof. In fact, there have been several incidents of cunning AI agents managing to find a way to escape from their confines and make trouble elsewhere. One of the most notable involved AI agents being tested by OpenAI Group PBC, which escaped from a sandbox and went on to hack into the model hosting platform Hugging Face. OpenAI's agents have also hacked websites operated by the U.S. and Australian governments. Most frontier model labs have been focused more on "model alignment," which involves training AI systems to behave themselves and not look for loopholes in their guardrails, but Perplexity engineer Zibi Braniecki told Semafor his company has instead concentrated on making those guardrails tougher and more reliable. Perplexity developed SPACE to safeguard its Portable Computer agents, which are marketed to its customers as locally-hosted AI agents that can perform tasks on their behalf. They're designed to do things like developing web applications, research products, buy things online, book hotels and so on. With Perplexity's Computer agents, SPACE provides safety features such as isolated code execution, pause and resume, recovery and session branching. Agents run within a small virtual machine that has its own operating system, isolating them from the host computer. There's a user-controlled control plane for creating, running, pausing and deleting these VMs. SPACE ensures that these sandboxes are always treated as "untrusted," and manages their network access and platform credentials outside of the sandbox, enabling agents to connect to authorized services without that sensitive information ever being made available to them within their environment. It also takes frequent file snapshots and checkpoints of the running environment to preserve progress and ensure it can revert back if any problems occur. So far though, there hasn't been any need to do anything like that, for SPACE seems to be bullet proof. Braniecki told Semafar that his team tested nine frontier models in SPACE environments and ordered them specifically to try and break out of their sandbox. In 118 attempts, none of them succeeded, though some did manage to find their way around the network restrictions. However, Perplexity has now fixed those weaknesses, and none of the models were able to do it again in follow-up testing. To compare SPACE's performance, Perplexity performed the same tests using other, proprietary sandboxes, and said the agents found a way to escape from several of them. Braniecki said the open-source nature of SPACE is key to securing AI agents, because it will enable companies to work together to build the tough guardrails they need. It's similar to what happened during the early days of web browsers, he said, where the developer community collaborated on the security systems needed to enable secure browning and online commerce. Perplexity isn't the only company pursuing an open-source approach to AI agent sandboxes. One alternative is Nvidia Corp.'s OpenShell project, which was released last month as part of a broader Open Agent Safety Platform. So far, there have been no reported escapes from OpenShell. Perplexity is not new to open-source security. Besides SPACE, it has also developed open source innovations such as BrowseSafe, which is used to detect malicious instructions hidden in web pages; Numbat, a tool for investigating dangerous agent behaviors; and Bumblebee, which is a scanner that's used to detect risky AI tool configurations.
