Bitcoin News Today: From Bitcoin Mines to AI Cloud: IREN's $9.7B Shift Backs Microsoft's Expansion

Microsoft has inked a landmark $9.7 billion multi-year agreement with IREN Limited, a major shift in the AI cloud services landscape. The deal, announced in late October, grants Microsoft access to NVIDIA GB300 GPUs over five years, with a 20% upfront payment, as IREN transforms its Texas-based infrastructure to support AI workloads, according to an El-Balad report. The partnership marks Microsoft's latest effort to secure GPU capacity amid surging demand for AI computing power, while IREN pivots away from its roots in Bitcoin mining toward a vertically integrated AI cloud platform, as noted in a Yahoo Finance article.

Under the agreement, IREN will deploy the GPUs in phases at its 750MW campus in Childress, Texas, where liquid-cooled data centers will support up to 200MW of critical IT load by 2026, El-Balad reported. The facility's design emphasizes energy efficiency, a critical factor for high-performance computing. To fulfill the contract, IREN has also secured a $5.8 billion procurement deal with Dell Technologies for GPUs and related equipment, as reported by The Outpost.

The funding strategy for the expansion combines existing cash reserves, customer prepayments, operational cash flows, and additional financing, per El-Balad. IREN's co-founder and co-CEO, Daniel Roberts, hailed the deal as a milestone, emphasizing its role in establishing the company as a trusted AI cloud provider and expanding its GPU deployments across North America, according to El-Balad. Microsoft's Jonathan Tinter, president of business development and ventures, underscored the strategic alignment of the partnership, citing IREN's expertise in integrated data center operations and secured power capacity, as noted by The Outpost.

The announcement sent IREN's stock soaring over 23% in pre-market trading, extending its year-long rally as the company capitalizes on the AI hardware boom, according to a Benzinga report. The deal also reflects a broader industry trend: energy-intensive Bitcoin miners repurposing infrastructure for AI infrastructure, which offers more stable revenue streams. IREN's shares have surged over 500% this year, driven by its pivot to AI, as reported by Investors Business Daily.

Analysts remain divided on the stock's trajectory. J.P. Morgan's Reginald Smith maintained a "Sell" rating with a $24 price target, citing concerns over valuation despite the company's strong earnings performance in Q3 2025, according to a MarketBeat alert. Meanwhile, others like Macquarie upgraded IREN to "Outperform" with a $86 target, highlighting its potential to generate $500 million in annualized AI revenue by early 2026, MarketBeat noted.

The partnership positions Microsoft to bolster its Azure AI offerings amid a global GPU shortage, while IREN solidifies its role as a key player in the neocloud sector—a group of firms transitioning from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure, as reported by Yahoo Finance. With the Texas deployment underway, the deal could set a precedent for similar large-scale collaborations in the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem.