IREN Clears Major AI Hurdle with Microsoft's Horizon 1 Approval

Data center operator IREN Ltd. (IREN) has cleared its biggest AI test after Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) approved Horizon 1, one of four data centers IREN is developing under a $9.7 billion deal.

The approval marks an important milestone for IREN as it begins to demonstrate the success of its AI-driven business, which dwarfs its existing Bitcoin mining operation.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) computers with GB300 were also operating at the site, giving it Exemplar Cloud status and another vote of confidence in performance and reliability.

IREN has secured a $3.65 billion loan package connected to the Microsoft contract that should cover much of the GPU spending.