Riot Platforms has signed a $9.1 billion long-term infrastructure agreement with Anthropic, marking one of the largest AI data center contracts announced this year and reinforcing the growing shift of Bitcoin mining companies toward artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Anthropic will lease 191 megawatts of computing capacity at Riot’s Texas data center through June 2048. The contract is expected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue for Riot over its initial term, with two optional five-year extensions that could increase the total value of the agreement to $16.1 billion.
Investors welcomed the announcement, sending Riot Platforms shares up roughly 25% in after-hours trading as the company strengthened its position as an AI infrastructure provider rather than solely a Bitcoin miner.
Anthropic Secures Long-Term AI Capacity
The agreement gives Anthropic dedicated computing infrastructure as competition for AI data center capacity continues to intensify.
Training and operating frontier AI models requires enormous amounts of electricity, GPUs, and high-performance data centers, making long-term infrastructure agreements increasingly valuable for leading AI developers.
By securing nearly 200 megawatts of capacity for more than two decades, Anthropic gains access to critical computing resources while reducing uncertainty around future infrastructure availability.
The deal reflects the growing importance of power availability as one of the key competitive advantages in artificial intelligence.
Riot Accelerates Its AI Transformation
For Riot Platforms, the agreement represents another major step away from relying exclusively on Bitcoin mining.
Like several other cryptocurrency mining companies, Riot has begun repurposing portions of its energy infrastructure to support AI workloads, taking advantage of existing power connections and large-scale industrial facilities originally built for mining operations.
The strategy allows the company to diversify revenue while benefiting from rapidly growing demand for AI computing capacity.
Earlier this year, Riot also announced a separate agreement involving AMD, highlighting its broader expansion into AI infrastructure and high-performance computing.
AI Demand Reshapes Energy Infrastructure
The transaction highlights a broader trend transforming both the AI and cryptocurrency industries.
Many Bitcoin miners possess valuable assets – including access to electricity, cooling systems, land, and large industrial facilities—that are increasingly attractive to AI companies building next-generation data centers.
Rather than competing solely for cryptocurrency mining revenue, these companies are repositioning themselves as infrastructure providers for artificial intelligence.
As demand for GPUs and computing power continues to outpace supply, long-term agreements between AI developers and energy-intensive infrastructure operators are becoming increasingly common.
Investors Reward Riot’s Diversification Strategy
The market reacted positively to the announcement, with Riot shares climbing about 25% in post-market trading following news of the agreement.
Investors have increasingly rewarded companies that successfully diversify beyond cryptocurrency mining into AI infrastructure, viewing long-term contracts as more predictable sources of revenue than Bitcoin mining alone.
For Riot Platforms, the Anthropic agreement represents both a significant financial milestone and further validation of its strategy to evolve into a broader digital infrastructure company serving the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence industry.
