Anthropic signs $9.1 billion data center deal with Riot Platforms

Riot disclosed the woody connected Monday, describing the counterparty lone arsenic a "leading frontier AI lab." Riot's Rockdale, Texas, field volition proviso 191 megawatts of IT capableness nether the presumption of the 20-year lease, which extends done June 2048, the institution said. Two five-year hold options could rise the full declaration worth to $16.1 billion.

Riot plans to bring capableness online successful stages, reaching 96 megawatts by December 2027 and completing the afloat 191-megawatt buildout by June 2028, the institution said. To money the project's aboriginal operation phase, Riot arranged a $573 cardinal interim financing installation done Morgan Stanley arsenic it works toward putting a imperishable recognition backstop successful place.

Riot CEO Jason Les said successful a connection that the 2 agreements unneurotic bring the company's full signed capableness to 241 megawatts and astir $9.8 cardinal successful semipermanent contracted revenue, each accumulated wrong six months. The earlier woody was with Advanced Micro Devices.

Riot banal closed down 5.46% connected Monday earlier the woody was announced, past surged much than 25% successful after-hours trading.

The Anthropic woody was announced alongside Riot's second-quarter fiscal results, which showed gross maturation alongside a wider nett loss. Total gross for the 3 months ended June 30 came successful astatine $174.2 million, up 14% from $153 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier. Bitcoin mining contributed $113.7 million, portion information halfway gross was $23.2 million. That compares with nett income of $219.5 million, oregon $0.58 per share, successful the year-ago quarter; this 4th Riot swung to a nett nonaccomplishment of $237.2 million, oregon $0.68 per diluted share.

Anthropic has been pursuing a bid of ample computing agreements arsenic request for its products grows. The institution signed a $10 billion, six-year woody with Volta Infra Holdings, a months-old AI infrastructure startup backed by Nvidia, to usage capableness astatine a information halfway successful Norway. Anthropic besides agreed to bargain astir $45 cardinal worthy of computing from Elon Musk's xAI successful May, according to Bloomberg. Earlier arrangements person included deals with SpaceX, AMD, and Akamai Technologies.

Riot's way to information centers is an improbable one: the institution spent years successful biotech diagnostics nether the Bioptix sanction earlier reinventing itself arsenic a bitcoin miner, and it is present portion of a broader question of crypto companies chasing AI infrastructure revenue.