What to Know

  • Core Scientific signed a 15-year infrastructure partnership with AMD for 529 megawatts of U.S. AI capacity.
  • The company said the initial leases could generate more than $14 billion in base contracted revenue.
  • AMD has rights, under certain conditions, to reserve up to 1,925 additional megawatts through Dec. 28, 2028.
  • If the additional capacity is reserved, the partnership could expand to roughly 2.5 gigawatts.
  • AMD directly leased 377 megawatts across Core Scientific sites in Pecos and Hunt County, Texas, and Muskogee, Oklahoma.
  • An unnamed cloud provider leased another 152 megawatts in Auburn, Alabama, and Dalton, Georgia, under agreements supported by AMD.
  • Core Scientific and AMD plan to collaborate on data-center design and deployments involving AMD Instinct graphics processing units, EPYC processors and ROCm software.
  • AMD received warrants to purchase up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47 per share.
  • Core Scientific terminated an agreement to buy Block bitcoin-mining chips and recorded a $41.9 million charge.
  • Core Scientific held 848 BTC worth $49.7 million on June 30, after holding 547 BTC three months earlier.

Core Scientific Pushes Further Into AI Infrastructure

Core Scientific is accelerating its shift from bitcoin mining toward artificial intelligence infrastructure after signing a major long-term partnership with Advanced Micro Devices. The agreement centers on 15-year leases covering 529 megawatts of U.S. AI data center capacity and marks another step in the company’s repositioning as demand for high-performance computing power reshapes the economics of digital infrastructure.

The data center operator said the initial capacity could produce more than $14 billion in base contracted revenue. That figure underscores why bitcoin miners and former mining-heavy infrastructure companies have been exploring new uses for large power portfolios, grid connections, and specialized facilities. AI workloads require enormous energy access, cooling capacity, and operational expertise, which are areas where large-scale mining companies already have experience.

The partnership is expected to support AMD customer deployments beginning in 2027. For Core Scientific, the timing gives the company a path to lock in longer-duration contracted revenue while the bitcoin mining business continues to face pressure from network competition, hardware costs, and the changing economics of block rewards. For AMD, the deal supports a broader effort to secure infrastructure capacity for customers using advanced compute products.

AMD Secures Capacity Across Several U.S. Sites

AMD directly leased 377 megawatts across Core Scientific sites in Pecos and Hunt County, Texas, and Muskogee, Oklahoma. A separate 152 megawatts was leased by an unnamed cloud provider in Auburn, Alabama, and Dalton, Georgia, under agreements supported by AMD. Together, those commitments form the 529 megawatts covered under the initial 15-year leases.

The companies also plan to work together on data-center design and the deployment of AMD Instinct graphics processing units, EPYC processors and ROCm software. That collaboration is significant because AI infrastructure is not simply a matter of having available power. Data centers running advanced compute workloads require coordinated design across power delivery, cooling, networking, rack density, hardware integration, and software support.

Core Scientific’s established infrastructure footprint gives it a potential advantage in moving from bitcoin mining to AI colocation. Bitcoin mining sites are designed around large-scale power consumption and uptime management, while AI data centers must also meet the needs of enterprise and cloud customers with more complex hardware and service expectations. The AMD partnership suggests Core Scientific is seeking to move up the value chain from self-operated mining toward contracted infrastructure services.

Potential Expansion Could Reach Roughly 2.5 Gigawatts

The agreement gives AMD, under certain conditions, the right to reserve another 1,925 megawatts through Dec. 28, 2028. If that additional capacity is contracted, the partnership could expand to roughly 2.5 gigawatts. That potential scale would make the relationship far larger than the initial leases and would deepen Core Scientific’s transformation into an AI-focused data center operator.

The rights to reserve additional capacity are not the same as a completed full expansion, so the larger figure should be understood as a potential outcome rather than a guaranteed deployment. Still, the structure gives AMD a path to secure more power over time if customer demand continues to support additional AI infrastructure needs.

For technical traders and infrastructure investors, the scale of the possible expansion is central to the market reaction. Large contracted power positions have become a key differentiator in the AI data center race, particularly as permitting, interconnection queues, and energy availability become major constraints. Companies that already control substantial power capacity may be better positioned to meet AI compute demand than new entrants trying to build from scratch.

Warrants Tie AMD to Core Scientific’s Expansion

AMD also received warrants to purchase up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47 per share. About 6.5 million of those warrants vested when the initial leases were signed, while additional warrants are set to vest as further capacity is contracted. The warrant structure links AMD’s potential equity upside to the expansion of the commercial relationship.

Such arrangements can align incentives between infrastructure providers and technology partners. For Core Scientific, the partnership offers potential contracted revenue and a major customer relationship. For AMD, the warrants create a possible financial benefit if the infrastructure buildout supports Core Scientific’s valuation over time. The arrangement also signals that AMD is taking a deeper role than simply placing hardware into third-party facilities.

Core Scientific said the agreements lift its leased customer capacity to roughly 1.1 gigawatts, representing more than $24 billion in potential contracted revenue. The company was billing customers for 437 megawatts as of mid-July, equivalent to about $635 million in annualized colocation revenue. Those figures show the growing importance of colocation in the company’s business mix.

Bitcoin Mining Becomes a Smaller Revenue Driver

The partnership comes as Core Scientific’s revenue profile is already shifting away from self-mining. Colocation generated $136.7 million, or 83% of the company’s $164.2 million in second-quarter revenue. By contrast, self-mining revenue fell 66% to $21.5 million. That contrast highlights how quickly the company’s core business emphasis is changing.

Bitcoin mining remains part of Core Scientific’s history and balance sheet, but it is no longer the only lens through which the company is being evaluated. Mining economics can be volatile because revenue depends on bitcoin prices, network difficulty, energy costs, machine efficiency, and transaction-fee conditions. Colocation and AI infrastructure contracts, by comparison, may offer longer-duration revenue visibility when capacity is leased to major customers.

The company also terminated an agreement to buy Block’s bitcoin-mining chips and recorded a $41.9 million charge. The 2024 agreement covered 3-nanometer chips representing roughly 15 EH/s of hashrate. Ending that arrangement further reinforces the strategic shift away from expanding bitcoin mining hardware commitments and toward data center infrastructure serving AI workloads.

BTC Holdings and Market Reaction

Core Scientific held 848 BTC worth $49.7 million on June 30, up from 547 BTC three months earlier. The company also sold 2,385 BTC for $208.2 million in the first quarter of the year. Those figures show that bitcoin remains financially relevant to the company, even as its operating focus moves further into colocation and AI infrastructure.

The stock market response was mixed across the companies involved. CORZ shares were up 5.6% in pre-market trading, while AMD was lower by 4% as chip stocks continued to sell off. The divergence suggests investors may be rewarding Core Scientific’s expanded contracted revenue opportunity while treating AMD within the broader pressure affecting semiconductor names.

For the crypto sector, the deal is another example of how bitcoin mining infrastructure is being repurposed for AI. The trend does not mean mining is disappearing, but it does show that access to power and data center expertise can be monetized in multiple ways. As AI demand grows, miners with large energy footprints may continue to evaluate whether they can earn better returns from hosting compute workloads than from dedicating all capacity to bitcoin production.

Why the Deal Matters for Crypto Infrastructure

Core Scientific’s AMD agreement is important because it reflects a broader realignment in the infrastructure layer that once served primarily bitcoin mining. The same high-power sites that supported mining machines can become valuable assets for AI customers, provided they can be upgraded or designed to meet stricter computing requirements. This gives former mining-first operators a strategic option at a time when mining margins can compress quickly.

The move also shows how the bitcoin mining industry is becoming more intertwined with conventional technology infrastructure. Rather than being viewed only as crypto operators, companies with large power portfolios are increasingly being assessed as energy and compute platforms. That can broaden their investor base, but it also raises execution demands, because AI customers may require reliability, design sophistication, and delivery timelines that differ from mining operations.

Market participants will now watch whether Core Scientific can convert additional capacity reservations into signed commitments, deliver the initial deployments on schedule, and maintain the economics implied by its contracted revenue estimates. The company’s ability to manage that transition may determine whether the AMD partnership becomes a defining moment in its AI pivot or simply one step in a longer infrastructure transformation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What did Core Scientific announce with AMD?

Core Scientific announced a 15-year infrastructure partnership with AMD covering 529 megawatts of U.S. AI data center capacity. The company said the initial leases could generate more than $14 billion in base contracted revenue.

When are AMD customer deployments expected to begin?

The capacity is expected to support AMD customer deployments beginning in 2027. The agreement gives both companies time to coordinate data-center design, hardware deployment, and capacity preparation.

How large could the AMD partnership become?

Under certain conditions, AMD has the right to reserve up to 1,925 additional megawatts through Dec. 28, 2028. If that capacity is contracted, the partnership could expand to roughly 2.5 gigawatts.

Which Core Scientific sites are involved?

AMD directly leased 377 megawatts across Core Scientific sites in Pecos and Hunt County, Texas, and Muskogee, Oklahoma. An unnamed cloud provider leased another 152 megawatts in Auburn, Alabama, and Dalton, Georgia, under agreements supported by AMD.

What technology will AMD and Core Scientific deploy?

The companies plan to collaborate on data-center design and the deployment of AMD Instinct graphics processing units, EPYC processors and ROCm software. These technologies are associated with high-performance computing and AI workloads.

How does this affect Core Scientific’s bitcoin mining business?

The deal accelerates Core Scientific’s move away from bitcoin mining as its primary business focus. Colocation accounted for 83% of second-quarter revenue, while self-mining revenue fell 66% to $21.5 million.

What happened to Core Scientific’s agreement with Block?

Core Scientific terminated an agreement to buy Block bitcoin-mining chips and recorded a $41.9 million charge. The 2024 agreement covered 3-nanometer chips representing roughly 15 EH/s of hashrate.

How much bitcoin does Core Scientific hold?

Core Scientific held 848 BTC worth $49.7 million on June 30, compared with 547 BTC three months earlier. The company also sold 2,385 BTC for $208.2 million in the first quarter of the year.

How did the stocks react?

CORZ shares were up 5.6% in pre-market trading, while AMD was lower by 4% as chip stocks continued to sell off. The moves reflected different investor reactions to Core Scientific’s contracted capacity expansion and broader pressure on semiconductor shares.

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