How do IREN and APLD's data centre businesses compare to other industry players and who are they

**Iris Energy Limited (IREN)** and **Applied Digital Corporation (APLD)** are both involved in the data centre industry, but they have different focuses and business models.

**Iris Energy Limited (IREN)**:

1. **Business Focus**: Iris Energy is a Bitcoin miner that promotes itself as an HPC "data center play." However, it has been accused of overstating its prospects with data centers and high performance computing, in large part due to material deficiencies in its Childress County, Texas site.
2. **Comparison to Industry Players**: Iris Energy's business model is similar to other Bitcoin miners, but its claims of being an HPC data center play have been questioned. The company's reliance on Bitcoin mining and its alleged overstating of its data center prospects set it apart from more traditional data center operators.

**Applied Digital Corporation (APLD)**:

1. **Business Focus**: Applied Digital is a designer, builder, and operator of next-generation digital infrastructure designed for high performance computing applications, cloud services, and data center hosting.
2. **Comparison to Industry Players**: Applied Digital's business model is more in line with traditional data center operators, focusing on providing infrastructure services to crypto mining customers and GPU computing solutions for critical workloads related to AI, machine learning, and other HPC tasks. The company's investment in convertible notes and its share repurchase program indicate a commitment to growth and a strong financial position.

In summary, Iris Energy Limited's data center business is more closely aligned with Bitcoin mining and has been criticized for overstating its HPC capabilities, while Applied Digital Corporation's data center business is more focused on providing infrastructure services for AI, machine learning, and other high-performance computing applications. Applied Digital's business model and financial actions suggest a more established and forward-thinking approach to data center operations compared to Iris Energy Limited.