Riot Platforms surges 20% in pre-market trading on $9.1 billion Anthropic deal

Riot Platforms (RIOT) surged more than 20% before the start of U.S. equity trading on Tuesday after the bitcoin $BTC$64,196.96 miner said it signed a $9.1 billion deal with “a leading frontier AI lab,” accelerating its transformation into a provider of infrastructure for the artificial intelligence industry.

The 20-agreement with the company, identified as Anthropic by Bloomberg, covers 191 megawatts of computing capacity at Riot’s Rockdale, Texas, campus.

Once focused almost entirely on bitcoin mining, Riot exemplifies an industry-wide pivot toward AI infrastructure, with long-term leases providing steadier revenue than the volatile flows from approving blocks on Bitcoin.

Miners control large sites with established grid connections, land and cooling systems, allowing them to serve power-hungry AI customers faster than developers starting from scratch. Anthropic recently signed a six-year, $10 billion contract with Volta Infra for computing capacity at a site in Norway operated by bitcoin miner Bitdeer.

Deployment at the Riot sites starts in December 2027, with the full buildout expected by June 2028. Two five-year extension options could increase total contract revenue to $16.1 billion. Riot projects the base term will generate between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion in cumulative net operating income.

The agreement follows Riot’s lease with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), bringing contracted AI capacity at Rockdale to 241 megawatts. Riot delivered an initial 25 megawatts during the second quarter and is constructing a further 25 megawatts.

Second-quarter revenue rose 14% to $174.2 million, including $23.2 million from data centers. Bitcoin-mining revenue declined to $113.7 million as lower bitcoin prices and rising network competition offset increased production.

Riot is helping finance data center investment by selling monthly bitcoin production and reducing its treasury. According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, Riot’s holdings declined from 15,680 bitcoin to 11,380 at quarter-end, a reduction of 4,300 $BTC over the three months.

The past few months have seen a selloff across the AI sector, leaving rival AI-focused miners such as Cipher Mining (CIFR), TeraWulf (WULF) and IREN (IREN) more than 40% below their record high, despite continued dealmaking.