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Riot Platforms disclosed a 20-year, $9.1 billion data center lease this week for 191 megawatts of capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus, leaving the client unnamed. Bloomberg reported hours later, citing "people familiar with the matter," that the mystery partner is Anthropic, the powerhouse behind the Claude AI models.
What's the Scoop?
- The numbers: The deal could reach $16.1B if two five-year extensions are exercised, with delivery phased in through June 2028 and backed by $573M in interim financing from Morgan Stanley.
- Market reaction: Investors liked it. RIOT shares, which had been trading lower most of Monday, jumped over 25% within hours of the Anthropic report breaking.
- Second major tenant: Anthropic joins AMD as Riot's second big data center customer, pushing its total contracted AI capacity to 241 MW and roughly $9.8B in combined revenue.
- Mixed quarter: The news landed alongside Riot's Q2 results, which showed revenue up 14% year-over-year to $174.2M, but a $237.2M net loss versus a year-ago profit.
