Shares of Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms surged more than 13% on Wednesday after the company announced a $28 billion artificial intelligence data center lease, its largest agreement to date, as it accelerates its expansion into AI infrastructure.

The 15-year lease covers 910 megawatts of capacity at Riot's Corsicana, Texas, facility and lifts the company's total future contracted data center revenue to approximately $38 billion across three leases signed this year. The agreement represents a major step in Riot's AI infrastructure strategy as it moves away from relying primarily on Bitcoin mining revenue. It also reflects a broader shift across the Bitcoin mining industry, in which operators are converting the grid-scale power and land holdings originally assembled for mining into long-term leases serving AI compute demand — turning energy infrastructure into multi-year contracted revenue.

“A year ago, our cash flow depended on the price of Bitcoin, and now, at full deployment of currently executed deals, nearly all of our expected cash flow will be generated from long-term leases with leading players in the AI ecosystem,” CEO Jason Les said during Wednesday's earnings call.

According to Riot's third-quarter earnings release, the company will provide land and power infrastructure originally developed for Bitcoin mining, while the AI tenant — identified as Anthropic in the company's quarterly filing — will own and operate the computing equipment and cover operating expenses.

Riot estimates the project's total capital costs at $5.5 billion, which it plans to finance primarily through debt backed by the lease payments, although that financing has not yet been secured. The first phase is expected to be delivered in September 2027, with rental payments beginning within 60 days of delivery. Securing that lease-backed financing is now a key item to watch ahead of the September 2027 delivery target.

Riot also reported third-quarter revenue of $181.4 million, up just 1% year over year, and sold 10,599 BTC during the quarter to help finance its expanding data center business. During Wednesday's call, Les said Bitcoin mining at the Corsicana facility could begin winding down in summer 2027.

Hut 8 shares tumble as AI transition weighs on revenue

Meanwhile, shares of fellow Bitcoin miner Hut 8 plunged more than 22% at one point during Wednesday's session after the company reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue amid its own transition toward AI infrastructure.

Third-quarter revenue fell 15% to $71.1 million, short of the $75.8 million analysts had estimated, according to MarketBeat data. During Wednesday's earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Sean Glennan attributed the decline in part to asset sales and lower revenue per Bitcoin mined, while cash administrative expenses also climbed year over year.

“The legacy revenue base is no longer the main growth driver, while the larger contracted infrastructure revenues remain tied to delivery milestones,” Glennan said.

CEO Asher Genoot also pointed to the complexity and expense of traditional AI data center construction as the company looks to develop projects on a larger scale.

“Many of today's data centers resemble NASA rocket programs — remarkable engineering, but complex, expensive, and slow to deliver,” Genoot said.

According to the company's third-quarter earnings presentation, Hut 8 has already secured $7.5 billion in project bonds to fully finance two major AI data center developments, although neither project has begun generating lease revenue yet. The split in Wednesday's share performance highlights the different stages of the two companies' AI pivots: Riot now holds roughly $38 billion in signed future lease revenue, while Hut 8's contracted infrastructure revenue remains tied to delivery milestones, with neither of its bond-financed projects yet producing rental income. For Hut 8, delivery of those developments — and the start of lease payments — is the near-term milestone to watch.