Anthropic has secured a 20-year, $9.1 billion cloud computing agreement with Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms to lease 191 megawatts of capacity at Riot's Rockdale, Texas campus. The deal accelerates Riot's strategic pivot toward AI infrastructure, sending its stock up 25% in after-hours trading despite a reported Q2 net loss of $237.2 million. To fund the $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion buildout, Riot secured a $573 million interim facility from Morgan Stanley and is actively selling its Bitcoin reserves.
Riot-Anthropic data center agreement
- ▪Anthropic secured a 20-year, $9.1 billion cloud computing agreement with Riot Platforms to lease 191 megawatts of data center capacity at Riot Platforms' Rockdale, Texas campus.
- ▪Riot Platforms projects that the base term of the Anthropic agreement will generate between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion in cumulative net operating income.
- ▪The agreement between Riot Platforms and Anthropic runs through June 2048 and includes two five-year extension options that could increase total contract revenue to $16.1 billion.
Bitcoin miner AI pivot
- ▪Riot Platforms has been selling its Bitcoin holdings, reducing its treasury from 15,680 BTC to 11,380 BTC during the second quarter of 2026, to help finance its AI data center expansion.
- ▪Riot Platforms' transition from Bitcoin mining to AI data centers is driven by the desire to secure steadier, higher-value revenue streams from its power-rich, grid-connected sites.
- ▪Riot Platforms' second-quarter 2026 data center business revenue reached $23.2 million, while its Bitcoin mining revenue declined to $113.7 million due to lower Bitcoin prices and rising network competition.
Rockdale campus capacity deployment
- ▪The Anthropic contract brings Riot Platforms' total contracted AI capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus to 241 megawatts, which includes 50 megawatts leased to Advanced Micro Devices.
- ▪Riot Platforms' Rockdale, Texas campus has 700 megawatts of developed, energized power capacity that the company intends to convert entirely toward high-density computing tenants over time.
- ▪Riot Platforms plans to deliver the first 96 megawatts of capacity to Anthropic in December 2027, with the remaining 95 megawatts scheduled for full deployment by June 2028.
Riot stock market surge
- ▪Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $237.2 million for the second quarter of 2026, despite a 14% year-over-year revenue increase to $174.2 million.
- ▪Following reports of the Anthropic agreement on August 10, 2026, Riot Platforms' stock surged approximately 25% in after-hours trading to $24.40.
Morgan Stanley construction financing
- ▪Morgan Stanley provided Riot Platforms with a $573 million interim financing facility to fund early development costs of the Rockdale expansion while final financing is progressed.
- ▪Riot Platforms estimates construction spending of $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion to build out the 191-megawatt project for Anthropic at its Rockdale campus.
Anthropic compute procurement strategy
- ▪Anthropic has committed over $60 billion to compute contracts in a three-month period, including a $45 billion agreement with SpaceX and a $10 billion deal with Volta.
- ▪Anthropic's aggressive compute procurement is aimed at securing long-term computing supply over the next decade to compete against rivals like OpenAI and Google.
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