Riot Platforms Signs $9.1B Lease to Anthropic Amid Grid-Connected Power Boom

Riot Platforms has leased out its Rockdale, Texas campus to Anthropic for a staggering 20-year period. The $9.1 billion deal sees the bitcoin miner-turned-AI-landlord hand over 191MW of capacity to one of the world's leading frontier AI labs. This is not a one-off arrangement; it's a trend that has been building all year, as grid-connected power becomes the new scarce asset being securitized on long-term terms.

The lease runs through June 2048, with two five-year extension options that could lift the total contract value to $16.1 billion. Anthropic will receive capacity in two phases: 96 IT MW by December 2027 and another 95 IT MW by June 2028.

This is not Anthropic's first major deal; it has also signed agreements with Volta and Theseus, implying a significant training footprint in 2028. Meanwhile, Riot Platforms' stock surged 20% in premarket trading and held most of its gain after the news broke.