Riot Platforms’ stock surged 10% on Thursday after the company unveiled a sweeping set of transactions that position it at the center of the global AI compute arms race. The announcements, which include a $96 million land acquisition and a multi-hundred-million-dollar data center lease with AMD, arrive amid an industry-wide frenzy for power, land, and high-density infrastructure as artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for data centers.
Riot Buys Rockdale Site Outright, Unlocks 700 MW for AI and HPC Growth
At the core of Riot’s announcement is the fee simple acquisition of 200 acres at its Rockdale facility in Milam County, Texas. The $96 million purchase, which is funded entirely through the sale of roughly 1,080 Bitcoin from Riot’s treasury, gives the company full ownership of a strategically critical site it had previously operated under a long-term lease.
By taking control of the land, Riot immediately unlocks the Rockdale Site for high-density data center development. The property includes a 700 MW grid interconnection, dedicated water supply, and fiber connectivity. These are all key ingredients for serving the soaring demands of AI compute clusters.
Riot now owns more than 1,100 acres and 1.7 gigawatts of power capacity between its Rockdale and Corsicana locations, cementing its position within the “Texas Triangle,” one of the hottest zones for data center expansion in the world.
AMD Signs 10-Year Lease Worth $311 Million, With Expansion Potential to 200 MW
The land purchase was announced alongside a landmark Data Center Lease and Services Agreement with AMD, which is one of the most influential hardware manufacturers in the AI ecosystem.
AMD will lease 25 MW of critical IT load beginning in January 2026, followed by a second-phase delivery in May 2026. The initial 10-year term carries $311 million in expected revenue, with the lease allowing three optional five-year extensions that would lift total contract value to approximately $1 billion.
The agreement also includes a massive expansion runway:
- •A 75 MW expansion option
- •A right of first refusal on an additional 100 MW
If both are exercised, AMD would occupy up to 200 MW at the Rockdale Site. This is nearly one-third of its total power capacity.
Riot has already begun retrofitting an existing building for the deployment, budgeting $89.8 million in capex, or $3.6 million per MW. The lease is structured as a modified-gross agreement with annual escalators and is expected to generate roughly $25 million in average annual NOI.
Pivot Toward AI Infrastructure Comes at a Time of Explosive Demand
Riot’s strategic shift from Bitcoin mining toward supplying AI-ready infrastructure comes as the market experiences unprecedented demand for power and data center capacity. Tech giants and chipmakers are racing to secure land, transformers, and megawatts.
While the company has shifted focus toward AI and HPC, data from BitcoinTreasuries shows that Riot is one of the top 10 largest corporate holders of BTC. The company currently has 18,005 coins on its balance sheets.
The company says it began formally evaluating its footprint for AI and HPC potential less than a year ago, but the speed of progress has been rapid.
“This partnership represents a validation of Riot’s infrastructure, development capabilities, the attractiveness of our sites, and our ability to meet the requirements of top-tier tenants,” CEO Jason Les said.