Hut 8 shares surge 25% as bitcoin miner seals AI deal with Anthropic and Fluidstack, signs $7 billion data center lease

Bitcoin miner-turned-AI diversifier Hut 8 announced a partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack to accelerate the deployment of hyperscale AI infrastructure in the United States, marking a major expansion of its data center development pipeline.

Under the agreement, Hut 8 will develop and deliver at least 245 megawatts and up to 2,295 megawatts of AI data center capacity for Anthropic, using high-performance compute clusters operated by Fluidstack.

The partnership is structured across multiple tranches. The first phase will launch at Hut 8's River Bend campus in Louisiana, where the company and Fluidstack plan to develop an initial 245 megawatts of IT capacity supported by 330 megawatts of utility power. Subsequent phases include a right of first offer for up to 1,000 additional megawatts at River Bend and the potential joint development of up to 1,050 megawatts across Hut 8's broader pipeline.

While bitcoin mining ASIC machines are not suited for AI workloads, mining operators often control power, sites, and cooling infrastructure that can be adapted for GPU hosting, making AI data center diversification attractive across the sector amid rising demand.

"Scaling frontier AI infrastructure is, at its core, a power challenge," Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot said in a statement. "Through our partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack, we are aligning power, data center design, and compute deployment into an integrated platform capable of delivering at gigawatt scale."

Hut 8 signs $7 billion, 15-year data center lease deal

Alongside Wednesday's partnership announcement, Hut 8 also disclosed that it has signed a 15-year, triple-net lease with Fluidstack for the initial 245 megawatts of IT capacity at River Bend, valued at $7 billion over the base term. A triple-net lease (NNN) is a lease structure where the tenant, not the landlord, pays property tax, insurance, maintenance, and operating costs, on top of base rent.

The agreement includes three five-year renewal options that could lift the total contract value to approximately $17.7 billion, as well as a right of first offer for up to 1,000 megawatts of future expansion at the site, the firm said.

Google is providing a financial backstop covering lease payments and related obligations for the 15-year base term, while Hut 8 expects the project to generate $6.9 billion in cumulative net operating income over that period. The initial data center is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2027, with additional facilities coming online later that year.

Hut 8 said it plans to finance the project with up to 85% loan-to-cost funding, with JPMorgan expected to serve as lead loan underwriter and Goldman Sachs also acting as a loan underwriter, subject to final agreements and customary closing conditions.

The River Bend campus is being developed in coordination with Louisiana State, local stakeholders, and Entergy Louisiana, which has secured an initial 330 megawatts of utility capacity with the potential to scale by a further 1,000 megawatts. Hut 8 expects around 1,000 construction workers at peak buildout and projects more than 265 direct, indirect, and induced jobs once the site becomes operational, with employment expected to rise as future phases advance.

"At first glance, this HUT deal looks like one of the strongest AI/HPC colocation deals disclosed so far," VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel said on X. "Question for the bears: if AI power is a bubble, why do deal economics keep improving?"

Following the news, Hut 8's stock gained over 25% at one point in pre-market trading on Wednesday, according to The Block's price page, trading at $46.24 compared to Tuesday's closing price of $36.85. It is currently changing hands for $45.45 — having gained around 75% year-to-date.

HUT/USD price chart. Image: TradingView.