Google increases TeraWulf stake to 14% with $3.2 billion backing

TeraWulf shares jumped 12% on Monday after Google raised its ownership in the crypto mining and data center company. The update came as TeraWulf confirmed that Google’s additional support will fund a major expansion of its Lake Mariner facility in New York.

According to CNBC, this latest move gives Google a bigger seat at the table, raising its stake from 8% to 14% and bringing its total backing to roughly $3.2 billion. The increase includes a fresh $1.4 billion in backstop financing and gives Google the right to purchase about 32.5 million TeraWulf shares.

Chief Executive Officer Paul Prager said in a statement that the deal secures a “strategic alignment” with Google to build artificial intelligence infrastructure.

That partnership comes at a time when TeraWulf is already in the middle of expanding its data center capacity through long-term deals with a rising AI cloud firm.

Over the last week, TeraWulf stock has soared about 90%, following back-to-back announcements that directly tie into AI and energy-intensive compute capacity.

Fluidstack expands deal with TeraWulf for more megawatts

Just days before the Google deal was announced, TeraWulf said it signed two 10-year computing contracts with Fluidstack, an AI cloud provider.

The agreement gives Fluidstack more than 200 megawatts of data center space at Lake Mariner in Western New York. Prager, speaking to CNBC’s Power Lunch last week, called the deal “a game changer in the industry,” pointing to the team’s ability to manage energy infrastructure and deliver value at the site.

That wasn’t the end of it. On Monday, TeraWulf added that the critical IT load at the Lake Mariner facility would now exceed 360 megawatts after Fluidstack moved to exercise an option for another 160 megawatts.

With both contracts combined, the company says it has secured $6.7 billion in contracted revenue. If lease extensions are triggered, the figure could reach as high as $16 billion.

TeraWulf Chief Technology Officer Nazar Khan said in a release that Fluidstack’s quick decision to expand “speaks volumes” about the quality and scalability of the infrastructure.

The operations tied to the new expansion are expected to begin in the second half of 2026. Separately, TeraWulf also announced a new plan to raise $400 million through convertible senior notes, due in 2031.

Perplexity’s Chrome bid fuels tension as DOJ weighs Google breakup

While Google is ramping up investment in crypto-adjacent infrastructure, it’s also facing pressure from regulators. On Tuesday, Perplexity AI made an unexpected $34.5 billion bid to acquire the Chrome browser.

The timing came just a week before the 20th anniversary of Google’s IPO and in the middle of a legal storm over the company’s market dominance.

Though analysts aren’t treating the offer seriously, it highlights the growing pressure on Google. The U.S. Department of Justice won a key case against the company in 2024, arguing that Google has operated a monopoly in the search market.

The ruling was considered the biggest antitrust decision in tech since Microsoft’s case over two decades ago.

Following the court victory, the DOJ began pushing for Google to sell off Chrome, arguing that the company’s bundling of services like search and Gmail into the browser gives it an unfair advantage.

Chrome also comes pre-installed on Chromebooks, raising concerns about how much reach Google has over the market.

Google’s legal chief Kent Walker pushed back in a statement, saying the DOJ’s proposal would amount to “unprecedented government overreach” and could hurt the United States’ leadership in tech and innovation.

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