Riot Platforms is accelerating its transition from a Bitcoin mining company into a major digital infrastructure provider after signing a 20-year data center agreement covering 191 megawatts of capacity at its Rockdale campus in Texas.
The contract is expected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue over its initial term. Bloomberg has reported that the unnamed customer is Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, although neither company has publicly confirmed the identity.
- Riot will provide 191 MW of critical IT capacity under the 20-year agreement.
- The first 96 MW is expected to be delivered by December 2027, with the remaining 95 MW targeted for June 2028.
- Two optional five-year extensions could increase potential contract revenue to approximately $16.1 billion.
- Morgan Stanley has provided $573 million in interim financing for initial construction.
- Riot continues Bitcoin mining while increasingly using its power infrastructure and Bitcoin holdings to finance its AI expansion.
Riot Converts Rockdale From Bitcoin Mining to AI Infrastructure
Riot’s latest agreement marks another major step in its strategy to transform its large US power portfolio into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.
The contract covers 191 MW of critical IT capacity at Riot’s Rockdale campus. The company expects to deliver 96 MW during December 2027, followed by another 95 MW by June 2028.
The initial agreement runs through June 2048 and is expected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue.
Riot also has two five-year extension options that could push potential contract revenue to roughly $16.1 billion.
These figures represent forward-looking estimates rather than revenue already generated and will depend on construction, financing and operating performance.
Riot estimates that the project could produce between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion in cumulative net operating income during the initial contract period.
Bloomberg Identifies Anthropic as the Customer
Riot’s SEC filing describes the customer only as a leading frontier AI laboratory.
Bloomberg subsequently reported that the tenant is Anthropic, citing people familiar with the agreement. Riot declined to comment on the customer’s identity, while Anthropic did not respond to Bloomberg’s inquiries.
As a result, the existence and terms of the Riot agreement are confirmed, while Anthropic’s involvement remains based on Bloomberg’s reporting rather than an official announcement from either company.
If confirmed, the deal would represent a significant example of AI companies turning to former Bitcoin mining infrastructure to secure the enormous amounts of electricity required for next-generation computing.
Rockdale Becomes a Major AI Computing Hub
Riot’s Rockdale campus was originally developed around large-scale Bitcoin mining.
The site currently has approximately 700 MW of developed and energized power capacity, alongside fiber connectivity and electrical infrastructure that can potentially support high-density computing.
Riot has increasingly positioned this infrastructure as an asset for AI data center development rather than limiting it to cryptocurrency mining.
The strategy gained momentum after activist investor Starboard Value pushed Riot to accelerate its AI data center ambitions, arguing that the company’s US power portfolio could be worth significantly more when leased to AI and high-performance computing customers.
AMD Already Occupies Part of Riot’s Capacity
The reported Anthropic agreement follows another major data center arrangement involving AMD.
AMD initially signed an agreement for 25 MW at Rockdale in January and later exercised another 25 MW option.
Riot completed the first 25 MW deployment during the second quarter and expects to deliver another 10 MW in November 2026 and the remaining 15 MW in May 2027.
With AMD’s contracted capacity combined with the new 191 MW agreement, Riot now has approximately 241 MW of critical IT capacity under signed leases at Rockdale.
Riot estimates that the two agreements could generate approximately $9.8 billion in total contracted revenue.
The company has already begun generating meaningful data center revenue. Second-quarter data center revenue reached $23.2 million, including $4.9 million from operating leases and $18.3 million from tenant fit-out services.
Bitcoin Mining Still Funds Riot’s Expansion
Despite its growing AI infrastructure business, Riot has not abandoned Bitcoin mining.
The company produced 1,587 BTC during the second quarter, compared with 1,426 BTC during the same period a year earlier.
However, mining revenue declined to $113.7 million from $140.9 million, reflecting lower average Bitcoin prices and a higher global network hash rate.
Riot’s average cost of producing one Bitcoin, excluding depreciation, stood at approximately $49,912.
Bitcoin itself is also becoming an important source of capital for the company’s AI expansion.
Riot ended June with 11,380 BTC, valued at approximately $666 million, including 5,821 BTC held as collateral. The company also reported $548.9 million in cash.
Riot has indicated that continued Bitcoin sales are being used as a key funding source for the equity component of its data center investments.
Morgan Stanley Provides $573M Construction Financing
The 191 MW project will require substantially more capital than Riot’s earlier AMD deployment.
Management estimates total construction spending at approximately $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion.
Morgan Stanley has provided Riot with a $573 million interim financing facility to fund early development and construction costs while the company works toward finalizing an investment-grade credit backstop.
Riot expects debt financing to cover approximately 80% to 90% of project costs, leaving an estimated equity requirement of between $210 million and $460 million before considering capital recycled from its AMD financing.
Those figures remain subject to final financing arrangements and construction costs.
Investors React as Riot Accelerates AI Pivot
Riot shares jumped approximately 25% to $24.40 in late trading after Bloomberg reported Anthropic as the likely tenant.
The move came shortly after Riot reported second-quarter revenue of $174.2 million, representing 14% year-over-year growth.
However, the company also reported a $237.2 million quarterly net loss, highlighting the significant capital requirements associated with its transition toward data center infrastructure.
The immediate milestones are now the planned 96 MW delivery in December 2027 and completion of the full 191 MW deployment by June 2028.
Riot must also secure the remaining long-term financing needed to complete the project.
Beyond Rockdale, the company has disclosed a nonbinding letter of intent involving its Corsicana, Texas campus, potentially giving Riot another opportunity to transform Bitcoin mining infrastructure into AI computing capacity.
The broader shift illustrates a growing convergence between the Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure industries: miners with access to large amounts of power are increasingly discovering that their most valuable asset may not be the Bitcoin they produce, but the electricity infrastructure they control.
