Riot signs $28B AI data center lease deal with Anthropic

U.S. Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) has signed a $28 billion data center lease agreement with AI company Anthropic, CoinDesk reported. The 15-year deal calls for Riot to provide 910 megawatts of power infrastructure at its Corsicana campus in Texas. Total construction costs are estimated at about $5.5 billion, and Riot may have to reimburse Anthropic for up to $3.6 billion in data center facility costs. Those reimbursements can be deducted from future lease payments, in which case annual interest of 12% would apply. Meanwhile, Riot sold 20,264 BTC for about $1.5 billion from January through September this year to fund its shift into the AI data center business.