Riot Platforms Jumps 20% Pre-Market After Signing $9.1 Billion Frontier AI Pact

Riot Platforms shares climbed more than 20% in pre-market trading Tuesday after the bitcoin miner announced a major contract to deliver computing power for artificial intelligence workloads.

Riot Platforms signs a 20-year AI computing agreement with an unnamed “frontier AI lab.” Riot’s filing did not name the customer. Bloomberg and CNBC reported the counterparty as Anthropic; neither Riot nor Anthropic has confirmed that identification. The pact supplies 191 megawatts of capacity at the firm’s Rockdale, Texas facility. Deployment is scheduled to begin in December 2027, targeting full completion by June 2028.

Two optional five-year extensions could lift the total value to $16.1 billion. According to the company, the initial 20-year term is projected to produce between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion in cumulative net operating income.

The agreement accelerates Riot’s shift from bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure. The company, which once derived nearly all revenue from cryptocurrency production, now illustrates a broader move across the sector. Operators are pursuing longer-term leases that deliver more predictable cash flows than fluctuating rewards from validating Bitcoin transactions.

These firms already operate expansive sites equipped with grid ties, acreage and cooling infrastructure. Such assets reportedly let them accommodate high-demand AI clients more rapidly than builders starting with undeveloped land.

Riot’s contracted AI capacity at Rockdale reaches 241 megawatts. The AI-lab transaction follows an earlier lease with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices. The miner supplied an initial 25 megawatts in the second quarter and continues work on an additional 25 megawatts.

Second-quarter results show mixed performance across revenue streams. Total revenue increased 14% to $174.2 million, which included $23.2 million generated by data-center operations. Bitcoin-mining revenue fell to $113.7 million after lower cryptocurrency prices and heightened network difficulty countered higher output.

Riot is funding further data-center expansion in part by selling its monthly bitcoin output and trimming its corporate holdings. Its bitcoin treasury dropped from 15,680 BTC to 11,380 by the end of the period, representing a reduction of 4,300 BTC over three months.

AI-focused mining peers have sold off despite ongoing deal activity. Rival operators such as Cipher Mining, TeraWulf and IREN now trade more than 40% below their all-time peaks even as similar contracts keep materializing. The broader AI sector has experienced a selloff in recent months.