INTEL: Anthropic signs $28 billion data center lease with Riot Platforms
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (Nasdaq: RIOT) has signed a 15-year data center lease worth about $28 billion with AI company Anthropic, according to its quarterly earnings report released Wednesday. The lease covers 910MW of power capacity at Riot’s Corsicana campus in Texas, with capacity delivered in phases through July 2028.
Riot provides the land and power infrastructure, while Anthropic installs and operates the computing equipment. Riot expects average rent of about $1.8 billion a year once all facilities are running. The first phase could start paying rent as early as June 2027. It is the second lease between the two companies, following an August agreement at Rockdale.
Build costs and the 12% interest term
Riot puts total project cost at about $5.5 billion. Roughly $1.8 billion goes to site and power work on Riot’s side, and up to $3.6 billion reimburses Anthropic for data center facilities. If Riot cannot raise financing, Anthropic fronts that cost and Riot repays it through rent offsets plus 12% annual interest.
Riot plans to fund most of the build with debt. Its financing plan assumes lenders cover 80% to 90% of project cost, leaving Riot to contribute about $500 million to $1.1 billion in cash. The financing process is expected to begin in 2027.
The filing also says Riot needs Anthropic’s consent for voluntary cuts to the tenant’s power load at Corsicana. Mandatory grid orders are exempt. The projected $28 billion in lease revenue depends on the phased delivery schedule.
Bitcoin sales fund the pivot
Riot has been selling bitcoin to pay for the shift to AI data centers. It sold 20,264 BTC for about $1.5 billion in the first nine months of the year. The proceeds went mainly to data center construction and to repaying a $200 million loan from Coinbase. At the end of September Riot held 2,418 BTC, and it expects to keep selling most of its newly mined coins.
