IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment to Microsoft Under $9.7 Billion Contract

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IREN completed Horizon 1, the first of four planned 50-megawatt AI data center deployments for Microsoft at its Childress, Texas campus. The facility uses direct-to-chip liquid cooling and earned NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud status. IREN stock jumped 6-10% as the company transitions from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure.

IREN Completes First Major AI Cloud Deployment for Microsoft

IREN delivered Horizon 1 to Microsoft, marking the first of four planned 50-megawatt AI data center deployments at its Childress, Texas campus

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. The milestone represents a critical execution point in the five-year, $9.7 billion cloud services contract announced in November 2025

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. Microsoft has a contractual five-day window to test each GPU deployment against agreed criteria, and once accepted, IREN can start invoicing monthly

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. The rapid delivery of Horizon 1 demonstrates the agility of IREN's vertically integrated model, which provides end-to-end control across design, engineering and construction of data centers supporting its GPU deployments

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. More than 3,000 people across the site team contributed to this milestone

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NVIDIA Grants Exemplar Cloud Status on GB300 NVL72

IREN achieved NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud status following NVIDIA's testing of its GB300 NVL72 deployment at Horizon 1

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. The designation demonstrates IREN's ability to support demanding AI workloads with performance, reliability and scale

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. The facility uses direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology optimized for power-dense computing applications

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. IREN's platform supports a combination of GPUs for high-performance computing and AI services, including approximately 1,896 H100 and H200 GPUs across its operations

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. The company continues to target expansion to 480MW AI Cloud capacity in 2026 and 1,200MW AI Cloud capacity in 2027

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IREN Stock Surges on Execution Milestone

IREN stock jumped between 6% and 10% following the announcement, with shares trading at $46.69

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. The stock was trading about 20% above its 20-day simple moving average of $38.79, though it remains near several longer-term technical levels

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. IREN carries a Buy consensus rating with an average price forecast of $79.67

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. Recent analyst actions include H.C. Wainwright maintaining a Buy rating and raising its price forecast to $90, while Macquarie maintained an Outperform rating with a $90 forecast

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. The contract is expected to generate roughly $1.94 billion in annualized revenue once all four Horizons are running

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Source: Benzinga

Source: Benzinga

From Bitcoin Mining to AI Infrastructure Provider

IREN listed on the Nasdaq in 2021 as a Bitcoin mining company, and its accounts reveal how recent the pivot is

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. The company reported $511.5 million in Bitcoin mining revenue over the nine months through March, against $58.3 million from AI Cloud

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. Management now targets more than $4 billion in AI Cloud annualized run-rate revenue by year-end, with roughly 85% already under contract

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. IREN owns and operates data centers powered by 100% renewable energy, with facilities spanning North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific

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. Its data center mining facilities are located in Sweetwater, Canal Flats, Mackenzie, Prince George, and Childress

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. The Canal Flats facility is located on a 10-acre freehold site, directly connected to the BC Hydro power grid through a 30-megawatt connection

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Execution Risks and Market Skepticism Remain

Famed short-seller Jim Chanos has questioned the economics, warning that this is a financing deal with IREN taking all the risk

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. Thursday's acceptance clears the first major execution hurdle, with Horizons 2-4 still due later this year

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. Whether the returns justify the capital remains open, but IREN just showed a Bitcoin miner can build the AI infrastructure powering the AI training and inference market

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. Investors are looking toward IREN's next earnings report, estimated for Aug. 27, with analysts expecting a loss of 63 cents per share on revenue of $139.5 million compared to $187.3 million in the year-ago period

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. The Horizon 1 data center delivery gives investors exposure to high-performance AI workloads just as IREN's original core market struggles

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