On November 3rd, Microsoft reached a five-year agreement with Australian datacenter operator IREN, worth $9.7 billion, to gain access to NVIDIA's advanced chips and aim to solve the problem of computational power shortage that has long restricted its

According to the agreement, Dell will supply equipment and supporting hardware based on Nvidia GB300 chips to IREN, with a procurement amount of $5.8 billion, which will be ultimately used by Microsoft.

The market quickly responded with positive feedback after the announcement. IREN's stock price surged more than 20% in pre-market trading on Monday, while AI server manufacturer Dell's stock price also rose 5% due to winning the core equipment supply

The partnership with IREN will enable Microsoft to expand its computing power without building new data centers or acquiring additional electricity, which have been the biggest obstacles for Microsoft in dealing with the surge in AI demand. At the sa

Founded by brothers Daniel Roberts and William Roberts in Sydney in 2018, IREN officially began its Bitcoin mining business in 2019 and went public on the Nasdaq in 2021. Since 2023, IREN has transitioned from a pure Bitcoin mining company to an AI i

The business transformation of IREN is a reflection of industry trends, specifically the rise of 'neocloud' service providers, along with other similar companies such as CoreWeave, Nebius Group NV, Crusoe, and Nscale.

As of the close of October 31st, IREN's stock price has increased by more than sixfold this year, with a market value exceeding $16.5 billion. The company currently operates multiple data centers in North America, with a total installed capacity of 2

According to IREN, NVIDIA processors will be deployed in stages at its 750 MW campus in Childress, Texas by 2026, along with the construction of a new data center with liquid cooling technology. It is expected to provide computing power on a correspo

According to the documents of IREN, Microsoft will pay a 20% advance payment of the total agreement price, mainly for the hardware procurement agreement signed between IREN and Dell worth $5.8 billion. If IREN fails to deliver on time, Microsoft has

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood stated that the company currently expects the shortage of AI computing power to continue at least until mid-2026, earlier expectations had been for the situation to improve by the end of this year.

This article is from Tencent Tech