Nvidia to invest up to $2.1 billion in IREN AI infrastructure deal

NVIDIA and IREN announced a strategic partnership on Thursday aimed at accelerating the deployment of next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure, as global demand for computing power continues to surge.

As part of the agreement, Nvidia will gain the right to invest up to $2.1 billion in IREN through a five-year option to purchase up to 30 million shares of IREN stock at an exercise price of $70 per share.

The investment remains subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The companies said the partnership is expected to support the deployment of up to 5 gigawatts of Nvidia DSX-aligned AI infrastructure across IREN’s global data center pipeline over time.

Shares of IREN rose around 9% in extended trading following the announcement.

The stock had closed the regular trading session at $56.85.

AI demand drives infrastructure expansion

The agreement comes as AI adoption continues to accelerate, prompting technology companies and frontier AI developers to increase spending on computing infrastructure.

All four major US technology companies reported earnings last week and indicated that AI-related spending would remain strong.

Combined capital expenditure is expected to exceed $700 billion this year.

The partnership between Nvidia and IREN is intended to speed up the rollout of large-scale AI factories by combining Nvidia’s AI factory architecture with IREN’s infrastructure and operational capabilities.

Under the collaboration, Nvidia and IREN will work on deploying Nvidia-accelerated systems designed to handle intensive AI tasks by using specialized processors in DSX AI factories.

The companies said this would help expand access to computing power for AI-native startups and enterprise customers.

IREN operates as a so-called “neocloud” provider, offering cloud computing services built on Nvidia processors.

The model allows large technology companies to access computing capacity without constructing new data centers themselves.

Focus on the Texas Sweetwater campus

Future deployments under the partnership are expected to focus on IREN’s 2-gigawatt Sweetwater campus in Texas.

The companies said the Sweetwater facility is expected to become a flagship deployment for Nvidia’s DSX architecture.

IREN already has experience working with major technology firms.

Last year, the company signed a $9.7 billion cloud agreement with Microsoft.

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said AI factories are becoming increasingly critical infrastructure for the global economy.

“AI factories are becoming foundational infrastructure for the global economy,” Huang said.

He added, “Deploying these systems at scale requires deep integration across the full stack compute, networking, software, power, and operations. IREN brings the scale and infrastructure expertise to help accelerate the buildout of next-generation AI infrastructure globally. Together, we are building for the age of AI.”

IREN sees broader AI infrastructure opportunity

IREN cofounder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts said the partnership combines Nvidia’s AI systems leadership with IREN’s operational expertise across power, land, data centers, and GPU deployment.

“This partnership combines NVIDIA’s AI systems and architecture leadership with IREN’s expertise across power, land, data centers, GPU deployment, and infrastructure operations,” Roberts said.

“Together, we believe we can accelerate deployment of AI infrastructure and expand access to compute for AI-native and enterprise customers globally.”