Shares of Riot Platforms (RIOT) surged approximately 8% on Friday after Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) increased its capacity at the company’s Rockdale, Texas campus. This move underscores Riot’s strategic shift from bitcoin mining to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. According to Q1 financial results, AMD exercised an option to double its contracted capacity to 50 megawatts (MW), with a potential increase to 150 MW. The earnings transcript indicated that this agreement could yield around $636 million over ten years. Riot also secured better terms on its $200 million bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase, reducing the rate from 8.3% to a fixed 6.15%, and releasing 1,544 pledged collateral bitcoins. This signals enhanced lender confidence in its burgeoning data center business. With both the AMD deal expansion and improved credit terms, investors are showing increased interest in Riot’s stock. “Market pricing in lower cost of capital as the expanded AMD deal drives lender confidence,” noted Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck. Previously one of the few ‘pure play’ mining companies that hadn’t ventured into hosting AI computing, Riot is now transitioning under pressure from activist investor Starboard to become an AI infrastructure provider. The decision to expand its data center business for hosting AI computers seems beneficial for the Castle Rock, Colorado-based company. For the quarter ending March 31, Riot reported total revenue of $167.2 million, up from $161.4 million the previous year, with $33.2 million stemming from initial data center operations. However, bitcoin mining revenue dropped to $111.9 million from $142.9 million due to declining bitcoin prices and increased competition. The company’s shares have risen about 147% over the past year, contrasting with a nearly 17% drop in bitcoin value. Additionally, Riot is accelerating its bitcoin sales. According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, it sold 3,688 BTC during Q1. As of March’s end, Riot held 15,679 BTC and $282.5 million in cash.