Riot Platforms closes historic $9.1 billion deal: miner becomes AI giant
Riot Platforms has made a strategic breakthrough by signing a 20-year contract to lease computing capacity with one of the world's leading AI labs. The deal involves Anthropic, the company behind the development of advanced language models. This agreement marks the miner's definitive transition from Bitcoin mining to an infrastructure business for artificial intelligence.
Details of the unprecedented deal
Under the terms of the agreement, Anthropic will lease 191 MW of capacity at Riot's Texas campus in Rockdale. The deal runs until June 2048 and guarantees the miner approximately $9.1 billion in revenue. The contract also includes two five-year renewal options, potentially increasing the total deal value to a hefty $16.1 billion.
The first 96 MW is expected to be commissioned by December 2027, with the full capacity coming online by June 2028. Initial capital expenditures of $573 million will be partially financed by investment bank Morgan Stanley, confirming the seriousness of all parties' intentions.
Quarterly financial results
In parallel, Riot published its second-quarter results. The company's revenue grew by 14% to $174.2 million, distributed across three key segments:
- data centers — $23.2 million;
- Bitcoin mining — $113.7 million;
- engineering — $37.3 million.
However, the net loss amounted to $237.2 million, contrasting with a profit of $219.5 million a year earlier. During the quarter, the company mined 1,587 BTC, ending the period with over $1.2 billion in liquid assets, including 11,380 BTC and $548.9 million in cash.
Market reaction and strategic context
The market responded positively to the news: after a 5.4% decline on August 10, Riot's shares surged more than 23% the following day, approaching the $24 mark. CEO Jason Les emphasized that in less than seven months, the company has signed lease agreements for 241 MW, equivalent to approximately $9.8 billion in long-term revenue from two major AI players.
This agreement follows January's deal with AMD and firmly cements the trend Riot began in 2025 — a pivot from Bitcoin mining to the high-margin data center business for AI. Core Scientific, IREN, Applied Digital, TeraWulf, and Hut 8 are already pursuing similar strategies. Notably, in August, Anthropic also signed a $10 billion deal with Volta Infra Holdings, indicating a large-scale expansion by AI companies into their own infrastructure.
My analysis: This move by Riot is not just diversification but a fundamental transformation of its business model. Miners have realized that their main asset is not ASIC chips but access to cheap energy and developed infrastructure. However, investors should closely monitor the timeline for capacity deployment: construction delays could significantly shift expected cash flows.