Riot Platforms signs a $9 billion AI data center deal with Anthropic

Riot Platforms shares jumped over 20% before U.S. markets opened on Tuesday, following reports that Anthropic is the buyer behind a $9.1 billion, 20-year deal to lease AI computing capacity from the Bitcoin miner’s Texas campus.

When Riot Platforms announced the deal on Monday, it did not reveal the other party, calling the tenant only “one of the world’s leading frontier AI labs.” Hours later, Bloomberg reported that the customer was Anthropic, citing people familiar with the matter.

After the report, retail trading activity picked up. RIOT became the most-discussed ticker on Stocktwits, and sentiment changed from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish.’ The stock gained over 26% overnight. And even before Monday’s jump, the stock was already up 53% for the year.

Riot leases 191 megawatts at Rockdale through 2028

The contract includes 191 megawatts of capacity at Riot’s Rockdale, Texas site and lasts for 20 years. Two possible five-year extensions could raise the total value to $16.1 billion. 

Riot Platforms expects the base term to generate between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion in net operating income.

The new capacity will be added in phases. Up to 96 megawatts will go live in December 2027, with full deployment expected by June 2028. Riot said a $573 million interim loan from Morgan Stanley will cover early development costs until a long-term credit backstop is in place.

Anthropic now becomes the second tenant at Rockdale. In January, Riot had also signed a deal with AMD, which saw the shares rise 13% on the news, as Cryptopolitan reported.

With both deals, Riot’s contracted AI capacity at the site now totals 241 megawatts. 

In the company’s earnings statement, CEO Jason Les said they have “now executed leases totaling 241 megawatts of capacity, representing approximately $9.8 billion of long-term, contracted revenue with two of the most important companies in the AI ecosystem.”

Bitcoin mining revenue dropped as Riot shifted its focus.

The news comes at the same time as Riot’s mixed second-quarter results. Revenue increased by 14% to $174.2 million, but Riot reported a net loss of $237.2 million, compared to a $219.4 million profit a year ago, according to Yahoo Finance. 

Data center revenue was $23.2 million, with $4.9 million from operating leases and $18.3 million from tenant fit-out services.

Revenue from mining fell to $113.7 million because lower prices and more competition offset higher production, alongside falling BTC prices.

Riot has been selling its monthly Bitcoin output and reducing its treasury to help pay for data center expansion. Its holdings fell from 15,680 BTC to 11,380 BTC during Q2, a decrease of 4,300 coins.

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