The artificial intelligence and high performance computing sector continues to boom, with Google set to acquire warrants to buy roughly 24 million shares of Cipher Mining (CIFR), equal to about 5.4% equity ownership, as part of a 10-year AI hosting deal with Fluidstack. The agreement underscores Google’s deeper push into AI infrastructure while boosting Cipher’s role in large scale computing services.
As part of the deal, Google will backstop $1.4 billion of Fluidstack’s lease obligations, helping support project-related debt financing. The contract is valued at about $3 billion over the initial term and could rise to $7 billion with two optional five-year extensions. Cipher is expected to deliver 168 megawatts of critical IT load at its Lake Barber site in Colorado City, Texas, by September 2026. Cipher will retain full ownership of the project, tapping capital markets to fund additional needs.
Cipher shares initially surged as much as 20% on the news, but were ahead 5% premarket at press time. The stock is up about seven-fold from the April bottom as bitcoin miners have shifted their business focus to high-performance computing and AI infrastructure.