Anthropic has entered a 20-year agreement to lease data center capacity from Riot Platforms at Riot's Texas facility, according to Bloomberg. The base value of the contract is $9.1 billion and runs through June 2048. The agreement includes two separate five-year extension options; if both extensions are exercised the total contract value could reach $16.1 billion.
Capacity, timeline, and financing
Riot will provide a total of 191 megawatts (MW) of IT capacity under the deal. The first 96 MW are expected to be operational by December 2027, and the full buildout is targeted for completion by June 2028. Morgan Stanley is providing $573 million of interim financing to support the initial phase of the project.
Context and significance
The deal highlights a broader trend of companies that previously operated in cryptocurrency mining moving into the market for large-scale compute capacity, driven in part by rising demand from artificial intelligence workloads. Riot previously struck a similar agreement with AMD; combined, the AMD and Anthropic deals represent 241 MW of committed capacity and roughly $9.8 billion of potential long-term revenue for Riot.
Market reaction and recent results
Following the announcement, Riot Platforms' stock rose more than 25% in trading after Monday's market close. In its latest quarterly report the company posted revenue up 14% to $174.2 million, while recording a quarterly loss of $237.2 million.
Strategic shift for Riot
Riot Platforms began in biotech diagnostics, later expanded into bitcoin mining, and is now pivoting toward data center services. That shift mirrors moves by other crypto-related firms seeking to capitalize on the fast-growing market for compute capacity used by AI and related technologies.
This article is not investment advice or a recommendation.
