Shares of TeraWulf Inc. soared more than 16% Monday after the company announced a 20-year lease agreement with artificial intelligence company Anthropic to develop one of the nation’s largest AI-focused data center campuses, a deal expected to generate approximately $19 billion in revenue over its initial term.
The agreement, disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marks a major transformation for TeraWulf, which began as a Bitcoin mining company and is rapidly repositioning itself as a provider of AI infrastructure.
The project will be built at Justified Data Center Campus in Hawesville, Kentucky, where Anthropic will lease approximately 401 megawatts of data center capacity—enough electricity to power a mid-sized city. Construction will be completed in phases, with the first facilities expected to begin operating during the second half of 2027 and full buildout targeted for early 2028.
Anthropic also secured two optional five-year lease extensions, potentially extending the partnership for decades.
“This agreement validates our strategy and establishes a long-term revenue stream with one of the world’s leading AI companies,” said Paul Prager, TeraWulf’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The announcement represents another major milestone in the race to build the computing infrastructure needed to support artificial intelligence.
Companies developing AI models—including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and others—require enormous amounts of computing power, fueling unprecedented demand for specialized data centers capable of housing thousands of advanced AI processors.
The Kentucky campus highlights another growing trend: repurposing former industrial sites into technology hubs.
The 750-acre property previously housed a Century Aluminum smelter before production ceased several years ago. Instead of manufacturing aluminum, the site will now host one of America’s newest AI computing centers.
Alongside the Anthropic announcement, TeraWulf also revealed plans to sell its majority stake in the Abernathy Joint Venture in Texas to an investor group led by Fluidstack for approximately $530 million. The proceeds will allow the company to concentrate capital on wholly owned AI infrastructure projects.
Investors welcomed both announcements.
The stock has already been one of Wall Street’s strongest performers this year as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence continues driving demand for power generation, data centers and high-performance computing facilities.
The deal also reflects a broader shift taking place across the digital infrastructure industry.
Many companies that once focused on cryptocurrency mining are redirecting their expertise toward AI data centers, where long-term leases with major technology companies provide more predictable revenue than the highly volatile cryptocurrency market.
For businesses, the agreement underscores the enormous investment flowing into AI infrastructure. Billions of dollars are being committed not only to software development but also to the physical facilities, electricity and networking systems required to power next-generation artificial intelligence.
For local communities, projects of this size can create construction jobs, long-term employment and new tax revenue, while transforming former industrial properties into high-value technology assets.
As competition intensifies among the world’s leading AI companies, demand for large-scale data centers is expected to remain one of the fastest-growing segments of the technology industry for years to come.
JBizNews Desk | Hawesville, Kentucky
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