Riot Platforms has entered into a 20-year contract to lease data center capacity with a "leading advanced AI laboratory." According to Bloomberg, the partner in this venture is Anthropic.

The agreement covers the leasing of 191 MW at Riot's facility in Rockdale, Texas, and will remain in effect until June 2048. This deal is expected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, with options to extend the lease for two additional five-year terms, potentially raising the total value to $16.1 billion.

The initial 96 MW is projected to be operational by December 2027, with the full capacity expected by June 2028. The startup costs for the mining operation are estimated at $573 million, with partial funding from Morgan Stanley.

In conjunction with this announcement, Riot reported its financial results for the second quarter, revealing a 14% increase in revenue to $174.2 million across three segments:

  • Data centers: $23.2 million;
  • Bitcoin mining: $113.7 million;
  • Engineering: $37.3 million.

The company recorded a net loss of $237.2 million, compared to a profit of $219.5 million in the same period last year.

Source: Riot Platforms.

During the quarter, Riot mined 1,587 BTC and ended the period with over $1.2 billion in liquid assets, which includes 11,380 BTC and $548.9 million in cash.

Riot's CEO Jason Les noted that the company has signed lease agreements totaling 241 MW in less than seven months. He stated that this is equivalent to approximately $9.8 billion in long-term revenue from contracts with two major players in the AI sector.

On August 10, Riot's shares on Nasdaq closed down 5.4%, but the following day, they surged by more than 23%, nearing $24.

Daily stock chart of Riot Platforms on Nasdaq. Source: Yahoo Finance.

This new agreement follows a January deal with AMD. Riot is shifting its focus from Bitcoin mining to AI data centers starting in 2025, a trend also being pursued by Core Scientific, IREN, Applied Digital, TeraWulf, and Hut 8.

Additionally, it is worth noting that in August, Anthropic signed a $10 billion deal with Volta Infra Holdings.