Riot Platforms signs $9.1B AI deal reportedly with Anthropic

Riot Platforms has signed a 20 year data center agreement worth an expected $9.1 billion for 191 megawatts of computing capacity at its Rockdale campus in Texas, marking another major step away from relying solely on Bitcoin mining. Summary Riot signed a 20 year lease for 191 MW, expected to generate $9.1 billion initially. Bloomberg identified Anthropic as Riot’s unnamed frontier AI tenant, citing people familiar with the matter. Riot expects full deployment by June 2028, after delivering 96 MW initially in December 2027. Extension options could raise total contract revenue to $16.1 billion if Anthropic exercises both periods. Riot secured $573 million from Morgan Stanley to fund initial construction while final financing progresses. Riot described the customer in its Aug. 10 SEC filing only as a leading frontier AI lab. Bloomberg subsequently identified the tenant as Anthropic, developer of the Claude artificial intelligence models, citing people familiar with the transaction. Neither company publicly confirmed Anthropic’s identity when Bloomberg contacted them. Riot declined to comment, while Anthropic did not respond. The distinction means the contract itself is confirmed, but ...