IREN's AI Shift: How Daniel Roberts Built a Renewable-Powered Empire
Daniel Roberts co-founded IREN in 2018 with his brother William. Initially focused on renewable-powered Bitcoin mining, the company expanded into artificial intelligence infrastructure and data-centre services.
IREN developed its operations across multiple locations, including sites in North America, where it sold mined Bitcoin rather than holding it as a long-term asset.
The company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in November 2021, providing access to public capital markets. IREN later changed its name from Iris Energy to reflect its broader focus beyond cryptocurrency mining.
In November 2025, IREN announced a multi-billion-dollar contract with Microsoft to provide AI cloud infrastructure, marking an expansion of the company's role into AI-focused data-centre services.