IREN and Nvidia Strike $3.4 Billion AI Infrastructure Deal

Bitcoin miner IREN Limited and chipmaker Nvidia announced a deal on Thursday to deploy AI infrastructure at up to 5 gigawatts of capacity. The agreement calls for IREN to provide Nvidia with $3.4 billion in managed GPU cloud services over five years, supporting Nvidia's internal AI and research workloads. Nvidia also received a five-year option to buy up to 30 million IREN shares at $70 per share, representing a potential $2.1 billion investment in the mining company.

The deal ranks among the largest announced in the current wave of Bitcoin miners shifting to AI computing. IREN shares spiked from $56.85 to around $72 in after-hours trading before pulling back after the company's quarterly earnings report landed the same evening.

Contract Structure: $3.4 Billion Over Five Years

Under the agreement, IREN will deliver managed GPU cloud services to Nvidia for five years to support the chipmaker's internal AI and research computing needs. Nvidia's DSX architecture forms the technical backbone of the partnership, with initial deployment targeting IREN's 2-gigawatt Sweetwater campus in Texas.

Nvidia's five-year equity option at $70 per share adds a second layer to the deal. If fully exercised on 30 million shares, the option represents $2.1 billion in additional capital flowing into IREN. The structure aligns long-term incentives: Nvidia has financial skin in the game at the company supplying its compute capacity.

Adding both figures together, total commitments exceed $5.5 billion. That scale puts this agreement above typical hosting contracts from earlier AI deals in the mining sector.

Sweetwater and Ingenostrum: Building Out 5 Gigawatts

To meet its obligations to Nvidia, IREN simultaneously announced the acquisition of Ingenostrum (Nostrum Group), a Spanish data center developer. The deal adds 490 megawatts of grid-connected power in Spain and extends IREN's footprint beyond the United States.

With the Spanish acquisition, IREN's total power portfolio reaches 5 gigawatts, matching the scale of the planned Nvidia deployment. Sweetwater in Texas serves as the launching point: the 2-gigawatt site under construction will receive the first DSX systems.

Jensen Huang and Daniel Roberts on the Partnership

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang described the challenge: "AI factories are becoming foundational infrastructure for the global economy. Deploying these systems at scale requires deep integration across the full stack - compute, networking, software, power and operations. IREN brings the scale and infrastructure expertise to help accelerate the buildout of next-generation AI infrastructure globally."

IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts said the partnership "combines Nvidia's AI systems and architecture leadership with IREN's expertise across power, land, data centers, GPU deployment, and infrastructure operations." Both executives point to the same bottleneck: chips alone are not enough - you also need the land, the power, and the people to run it.

Shares Jumped 26%, Then Pulled Back

Market reaction was mixed. After the deal announcement, IREN shares rose from $56.85 to around $72 in after-hours trading, a move of roughly 26.7% in a matter of hours. The jump reflected investor expectations around a partnership with the world's leading AI chipmaker.

Later that evening, IREN published quarterly results that came in well below estimates. The company reported a net loss of $247.8 million for Q1 2026. Sellers moved in and clawed back part of the after-hours gains before the next regular session opened.

The pattern fits companies investing heavily ahead of revenue: infrastructure build costs and operating expenses come first, cash flow follows later. The Q1 loss reflects the investment phase rather than a structural problem with the business model.

Bitcoin Miners Become AI Operators

The IREN-Nvidia deal extends a shift that has been reshaping the mining sector for several quarters. Public Bitcoin miners hold a specific combination of assets: large power contracts, land near grid substations, and teams with hands-on experience running industrial-scale hardware.

Those are exactly the resources hyperscale AI operators need when deploying thousands of GPUs. Miners that used to compete for hashrate are now signing contracts with Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon. Hut 8 announced a $9.8 billion AI deal in May 2026. IREN is taking the same path, but with Nvidia taking a direct equity stake through the option.

For the sector, this represents a model change. After the 2024 Bitcoin halving, mining margins narrowed and AI contracts offer a more predictable revenue stream with a fixed term and price. IREN is betting that this hybrid model proves more durable over the long run than a pure Bitcoin mining operation.