Hut 8 Pivots to AI Infrastructure with Landmark $7 Billion Google-Backed Deal
In a transformative shift that underscores the convergence of digital energy and artificial intelligence, Hut 8 Corp. announced on December 17, 2025, that it has secured a 15-year lease agreement valued at approximately $7 billion. The deal focuses on the development of a massive 245-megawatt (MW) AI data center at Hut 8’s River Bend campus in Louisiana. While the primary tenant is the AI cloud platform Fluidstack—serving high-profile end-users like Anthropic—the deal’s structural integrity is anchored by Google, which is providing a comprehensive financial backstop for the entirety of the 15-year term. This agreement represents one of the largest private capital projects in Louisiana’s history and signals Hut 8’s decisive evolution from a cryptocurrency miner into a foundational provider of hyperscale AI infrastructure.
Strategic Financial Support and the River Bend Build-out
The 15-year contract is structured as a triple-net (NNN) lease, meaning the tenant covers all operational costs, including taxes, insurance, and maintenance, alongside a base rent that includes a 3.0% annual escalator. Google’s role as a financial guarantor is a critical de-risking mechanism, allowing Hut 8 to secure favorable project-level financing for up to 85% of construction costs through lead underwriters J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. The River Bend campus is designed for massive scalability, with Fluidstack holding a right of first offer for an additional 1,000 MW of capacity. Construction has already commenced, with the first data hall expected to be commissioned by the second quarter of 2027. This timeline reflects a disciplined, “power-first” development model intended to meet the urgent compute demands of leading AI labs while providing the state of Louisiana with approximately 1,000 construction jobs at peak development.
The Great Mining Migration to High-Performance Computing
Hut 8’s landmark deal is part of a broader 2025 trend where former BTC miners are repurposing their energy assets to fuel the AI revolution. As the global race for high-density power and specialized cooling intensifies, companies like Hut 8 have pivoted to leverage their existing “energy moats”—access to large-scale, high-voltage interconnections that are increasingly scarce. By transitioning from the volatile economics of BTC mining to the predictable, long-term cash flows of AI data center leases, Hut 8 is effectively being repriced by the market as a digital utility. This shift was immediately reflected in the company’s stock performance, which surged over 20% following the announcement. As AI model training requires gigawatt-scale infrastructure, the partnership with Google and Anthropic positions Hut 8 as a primary architect of the physical layer of the AI economy, moving the company far beyond its roots in the crypto-native ecosystem.
