AI factories are becoming the foundational infrastructure for the global economy, and a new partnership between Nvidia and IREN aims to build them at a massive 5-gigawatt scale.
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Nvidia and IREN Partner on 5 Gigawatt AI Buildout to Power New Factories
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) and IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN) announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of up to 5 gigawatts of next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure, a move that sent IREN’s shares surging 27 percent. The deal, announced May 7, solidifies Nvidia’s push to secure its supply chain from chips to data centers.
“AI factories are becoming foundational infrastructure for the global economy,” Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive of Nvidia, said in a statement. “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.”
The partnership combines Nvidia’s DSX AI factory architecture with IREN’s vertically integrated platform, which includes large-scale data centers and GPU clusters. Future deployments are expected to center on IREN’s 2-gigawatt Sweetwater campus in Texas. As part of the agreement, IREN issued Nvidia a five-year right to purchase up to 30 million shares at $70 per share, a potential investment of $2.1 billion.
The deal is the latest in a series of strategic investments by Nvidia to control the end-to-end AI stack. The chipmaker recently made similar equity-linked supply deals with photonic product makers Lumentum and Coherent for $4 billion and a multi-year agreement with specialty glass manufacturer Corning worth up to $3.2 billion. These partnerships aim to break the physical constraints on building AI infrastructure by securing access to everything from optical fiber to power and data center space.
From Bitcoin Miner to AI Cloud Provider
The Nvidia partnership accelerates IREN’s rapid transition from a Bitcoin mining operator into a full-stack AI cloud provider. The company’s revenue is still primarily from crypto mining, which accounted for 91 percent of its second-quarter revenue. However, with the energization of its 1.4-gigawatt Sweetwater 1 site and a major Microsoft contract, IREN is repositioning to compete with AI cloud operators like CoreWeave and Nebius.
“This partnership combines NVIDIA’s AI systems and architecture leadership with IREN’s expertise across power, land, data centers, GPU deployment and infrastructure operations,” said Daniel Roberts, co-founder and co-CEO of IREN.
European Expansion Adds to Power Portfolio
Separately, IREN announced an agreement to acquire Ingenostrum, S.L., a Spain-based data center developer, for $625 million in an all-stock deal. The acquisition marks IREN’s entry into the European market and adds approximately 490 megawatts of secured, grid-connected power in Spain. The move increases IREN’s total power portfolio to 5 gigawatts, matching the total deployment target of the Nvidia partnership.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
[1] NVIDIA and IREN Announce Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Deployment of up to 5 Gigawatts of AI Infrastructure[2] IREN stock surges 27% on Nvidia partnership for AI infrastructure[3] Nvidia strikes optical AI infra supply deal with Corning, worth up to $3.2bn[4] Don’t Focus Too Heavily on IREN’s Q3 Today — Look at What Comes Next
