NVIDIA (NVDA.US) will invest up to $2.1 billion in data center developer IREN (IREN.US) as part of a broader collaboration aimed at accelerating the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. In a joint statement released on Thursday, the companies announced that IREN has granted NVIDIA the right to purchase up to 30 million shares at an exercise price of $70 per share over a five-year period. The two firms will also collaborate to deploy computing capacity worth billions of dollars.
As part of the partnership, IREN announced a $3.4 billion AI cloud computing contract with NVIDIA for the procurement and deployment of NVIDIA's Blackwell processors. The companies plan to gradually expand NVIDIA infrastructure by up to 5 gigawatts in the future. The statement further indicated that NVIDIA and IREN intend to jointly develop large-scale data centers, leveraging NVIDIA's equipment and IREN's expertise in securing land and power resources for project advancement.
Simultaneously, IREN disclosed on Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Spain-based data center developer Ingenostrum, also known as Nostrum Group, as part of its strategy to expand its presence in the European AI cloud infrastructure market. The acquisition is expected to add approximately 490 megawatts of secured grid power capacity in Spain and increase IREN's total power reserve to 5 gigawatts. IREN stated that the transaction will also bring an additional development pipeline and a local team with expertise in development, engineering, construction, and operations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. IREN noted that the acquisition of Nostrum remains subject to customary closing conditions.
Originally focused on Bitcoin mining, IREN has since shifted its business toward AI computing capacity. The company, formerly known as Iris Energy, saw its stock price surge 285% last year and has gained 51% year-to-date in 2026. Last year, Microsoft (MSFT.US) signed an agreement valued at approximately $9.7 billion to purchase AI computing capacity from IREN.
At the time of reporting, IREN's shares were up nearly 10% in after-hours trading on Thursday. Notably, NVIDIA has also invested in IREN's competitors, including CoreWeave (CRWV.US) and Nebius (NBIS.US). These concentrated transactions have drawn some criticism regarding their "circular investment" nature, as NVIDIA is supporting companies that purchase its chips. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has disputed this characterization. In January, when discussing the investment in CoreWeave, he stated, "This represents only a small fraction of the total funding they will ultimately require. Calling this circular investment is simply absurd."
Comments