Riot Lands $9 Billion Anthropic Lease Amid AI Expansion
Riot Platforms, a major player in the crypto space, has announced a significant expansion into the AI sector. The company has struck a 20-year data center lease with Anthropic, which is expected to generate approximately $9 billion in revenue over the agreed period.
The deal entails 191 megawatts of IT capacity at Riot's campus in Texas and will run until June 2048, although it can be extended for another five years to 2053, raising total revenue to over $16 billion. The implementation will occur in phases, with 96 megawatts targeted for December 2027 and fully 191 megawatts by 2028.
Riot has secured $573 million in financing from Morgan Stanley to cover the project's development costs. The deal is a major boost for the company's expansion plans and comes on the heels of an earlier agreement with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Riot Platforms now has $9.8 billion in long-term contracted revenue.
Riot shares surged 25% in after-hours trading following the news, jumping from $19 to $24.3 as of this writing. The rising stock value suggests that investors took the news positively and are positioning themselves for the company's AI-driven future.