Riot Platforms, one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies, has signed a landmark 20-year agreement with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, leasing 191 megawatts of critical IT capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus. The deal, first reported by Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, is expected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue over its initial term, with two optional five-year extensions that could push the total to $16.1 billion if exercised.
The contract marks a significant strategic pivot for Riot, which has been steadily monetizing its extensive power infrastructure for high-density computing beyond Bitcoin mining. The first 96 MW of capacity is scheduled for delivery in December 2027, with the remaining 95 MW coming online by June 2028. Riot estimates cumulative net operating income of $7.3 billion to $8.2 billion during the base term, though these figures remain forward-looking projections dependent on construction and operational performance.
Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI models, was identified as the unnamed “frontier AI lab” tenant after Riot’s SEC filing kept the customer anonymous. Neither company has publicly confirmed the identity. The agreement follows Riot’s earlier partnership with Advanced Micro Devices, which initially leased 25 MW and later doubled its contracted capacity to 50 MW at the same site. With both tenants, Riot now has 241 MW of critical IT capacity under signed leases, with total expected contracted revenue of about $9.8 billion.
To fund the massive buildout—estimated at $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion—Riot secured a $573 million interim financing facility from Morgan Stanley, with plans for 80–90% debt financing. The company has increasingly relied on Bitcoin sales to cover the equity portion. In Q1 2026 alone, Riot sold 3,778 BTC for $289.5 million at an average net price of $76,626 per coin, more than double its quarterly production of 1,473 BTC. As of June, Riot held 11,380 BTC worth roughly $666 million, with 5,821 BTC serving as collateral. The strategy explicitly uses continued Bitcoin inventory sales as a primary funding source for its data center expansion.
Investors reacted strongly, with Riot shares surging about 25% in after-hours trading following the news. The move underscores a broader trend among Bitcoin miners leveraging their grid connections to power the AI boom, turning formerly mining-focused infrastructure into multi-purpose data centers. Riot’s Rockdale campus still operates its Bitcoin mining fleet, but the company’s long-term vision now places equal emphasis on hosting AI computing workloads.
