AI Giant Anthropic Secures $9 Billion Computing Partnership with Riot Bitcoin Mining Firm
AI company Anthropic has entered into a massive $9 billion agreement with cryptocurrency miner Riot Platforms to obtain 191 megawatts of computing power from Riot's Texas-based Rockdale facility.
Riot Platforms, a cryptocurrency mining operation, announced on Monday through a press release that it has finalized a two-decade contract to deliver 191 megawatts of computing capacity from its Texas-based Rockdale facility to what it described as a "leading frontier AI" enterprise.
According to a Monday Bloomberg report that cited sources with knowledge of the transaction, the AI customer in question is Anthropic, and the contract carries an estimated value of approximately $9 billion.
Both Anthropic and Riot have been contacted by Cointelegraph for official statements on the matter.
This follows another major deal by Anthropic, which on July 6 entered into a separate $19 billion agreement with cryptocurrency miner TeraWulf for a 20-year data center lease arrangement.
Should the reported deal be confirmed, Riot would join an expanding roster of cryptocurrency mining operations venturing into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing sectors, a list that already includes notable names such as Bitdeer, CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, Hut 8 and IREN.
The stock price of Riot experienced a 5.4% decline during Monday's trading session, though it subsequently surged by more than 21% during after-hours trading activity. Year-to-date performance shows the stock has climbed more than 53%, based on data from Yahoo Finance.
According to CompaniesMarketCap data, Riot holds the position of the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency mining operation by market capitalization, currently valued at $7.33 billion.
In a July 23 analysis report provided to Cointelegraph, investment firm Bernstein stated that collaborative arrangements between artificial intelligence enterprises and cryptocurrency mining companies have become essential to resolving the energy supply shortage that is currently limiting AI data center expansion.