Bitcoin miner-turned-AI company IREN saw its stock rise 30% to $78.02 during earlier trading hours after signing a $9.7 billion cloud services deal with Microsoft. Under the five-year agreement, Microsoft will gain access to IREN’s Nvidia GB300 GPUs and will make a 20% prepayment. IREN said the partnership is part of its plan to expand beyond mining and move deeper into the artificial intelligence space.
“We’re proud to announce this milestone partnership with Microsoft. This agreement not only validates IREN’s position as a trusted provider of AI Cloud services, but also opens access to a new customer segment among global hyperscalers,” said Daniel Roberts, IREN’s co-founder and co-CEO.
Microsoft also highlighted the importance of the partnership in the press release. Jonathan Tinter, President of Business Development and Ventures at Microsoft, said: “Together with IREN, Microsoft is delivering cutting-edge AI infrastructure for our customers. IREN’s expertise in building and operating a fully integrated AI cloud—combined with their secured power capacity—makes them a strategic partner.”
IREN Stock Surges After Cloud Deal Announcement
Shortly after the news, IREN’s shares jumped nearly 30% in pre-market trading, from $59.22 to $78.02, before settling at $73.52, still up 21%. This year alone, the shares have risen more than 566%.
Expansion with New $5.8 Billion Dell Deal
In addition, IREN signed a $5.8 billion deal with Dell Technologies to buy more GPUs and other equipment for its data centers. The company said the new hardware will be rolled out in stages through 2026 at its 750MW Childress, Texas, site.
The facility will also include new liquid-cooled data centers that can handle up to 200 megawatts of computer power. IREN said it will fund these projects using its own cash, including prepayments from customers, and operational income.
Why the News Matters
The deal represents a trend of Bitcoin mining companies exploring other areas in the financial sector. Recently, TeraWulf, another mining company, saw its share surge after announcing plans to expand AI computing power through a Google-backed joint venture with AI cloud company Fluidstack.
Toronto-based miner Bitfarms has also begun exploring ways to convert some of its facilities into AI-focused data centers to meet the demand for AI infrastructure. In short, these firms are using their existing power sources and data centers to enter the market of AI and cloud computing, which could inspire other companies, especially as profits from bitcoin mining become harder to maintain due to rising costs and energy limits.
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