Hut 8 Lands Google-Backed $7B AI Data Center Lease
Hut 8, a Bitcoin mining company, signed a 15-year, $7 billion lease to provide 245 megawatts of AI data center capacity at its River Bend campus in Louisiana, representing one of the largest deals between a crypto-native firm and the AI infrastructure sector. Fluidstack will lease the data center capacity, with Google providing a financial backstop to guarantee lease payments and obligations over the 15-year term. This arrangement protects Hut 8 and lenders if Fluidstack cannot fulfill its payment commitments. Construction has begun, with the first phase expected operational in Q2 2027 and further expansions the following year. The project relies on institutional loans to finance most construction costs, limiting Hut 8’s upfront investment. The agreement strengthens Hut 8’s shift into AI, which began with its GPU-as-a-Service offering and deployment of Nvidia H100 GPUs earlier in 2024. Similar large-scale infrastructure deals include Core Scientific’s $3.5 billion, 12-year agreement with CoreWeave, and Galaxy Digital’s $1 billion annual revenue deal supporting CoreWeave’s AI operations, reflecting a trend of crypto-native firms generating significant revenue from AI infrastructure services.
