TeraWulf signs $19 billion AI lease Anthropic, shares +17%

Shares of TeraWulf surged more than 17% in early trading on Monday after the company announced a landmark 20-year lease agreement with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic for a large-scale data center in Kentucky. The deal, expected to generate approximately $19 billion in contracted revenue over its initial term, marks a significant step in the former Bitcoin miner's strategic pivot toward AI infrastructure.

Under the agreement, Anthropic will lease a purpose-built AI campus at TeraWulf's Justified Data site in Hawesville, Kentucky, located about an hour southwest of Louisville. The facility is designed to support roughly 401 megawatts of critical IT load. Initial capacity is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2027, with the site expected to reach full operational capacity by early 2028.

In a separate transaction announced the same day, TeraWulf said it entered into a definitive agreement to sell its 50.1% ownership interest in the Abernathy Joint Venture, a data center campus in Texas, to an investor group led by its joint venture partner, Fluidstack. The company stated the sale monetizes its approximately $450 million investment at a premium and will free up...