On Thursday, Nvidia and IREN Limited, a firm transitioning from Bitcoin mining to an AI compute provider, disclosed a deal aimed at establishing up to 5 gigawatts of cutting-edge AI infrastructure. The collaboration involves implementing Nvidia’s DSX architecture throughout IREN’s global data centers, starting with the company’s 2-gigawatt facility in Texas’ Sweetwater campus. Part of this arrangement includes a five-year option for Nvidia to acquire up to 30 million IREN shares at $70 each.
Beyond equity options, IREN will offer Nvidia $3.4 billion worth of managed GPU cloud services over the next five years to support the chipmaker’s AI and research needs. According to Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, ‘AI factories are becoming foundational infrastructure for the global economy.’ He emphasized that building these systems at scale demands comprehensive integration across compute, networking, software, power, and operations, areas where IREN excels.
IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts highlighted that this partnership leverages Nvidia’s AI system expertise with IREN’s proficiency in power, land, data centers, GPU deployment, and infrastructure management. Concurrently, IREN is expanding its infrastructure to support the large-scale deployment by acquiring Ingenostrum from Spain-based Nostrum Group, adding 490 megawatts of grid-connected power. This European acquisition brings IREN’s total power capacity to 5 gigawatts, aligning with Nvidia’s planned infrastructure scale.
Post-announcement, IREN shares initially surged above $72 in after-hours trading from a closing price of $56.85 but later declined following the release of its Q1 earnings report, which showed a significant $247.8 million net loss. Despite this, IREN is up about 3% at $58.60, with Bernstein analysts setting a $100 target on its shares.
Nvidia’s stock remains near an all-time high, recently trading above $215 per share, having risen by 83% over the past year according to Yahoo Finance. This Nvidia deal follows IREN’s November agreement with Microsoft for $9.7 billion in GPU cloud infrastructure at its Texas data center, including a $5.8 billion computing equipment purchase from Dell Technologies.
The significance of these deals underscores AI infrastructure providers’ growing role as intermediaries between chip manufacturers and enterprise customers seeking dedicated compute capacity. With commitments now exceeding $15 billion across Nvidia and Microsoft partnerships, IREN has cemented its position in the AI infrastructure sector. The deal highlights escalating competition for AI compute infrastructure, with firms like Hut 8, Core Scientific, and Terawulf also securing substantial multi-billion-dollar agreements with leading AI companies.