Nvidia2026-08-08 05:27:09Nvidia targets power supplier behind OpenAI’s Stargate project with up to $3 billion Lancium investmentNvidia is moving deeper into the base layer of AI infrastructure by targeting power capacity, not just chips. According to The Information, the company has agreed to invest $2 billion in Lancium, a power infrastructure developer backed by Blackstone, and may add another $1 billion if the company meets milestones tied to additional grid access. The initial tranche would give Nvidia roughly a 20% stake, rising to about 30% if the follow-on investment is completed, in a deal that values Lancium at around $10 billion including debt. The strategic logic centers on one of the biggest constraints facing AI data centers: electricity. Lancium is the power infrastructure provider behind OpenAI and Oracle’s “Stargate” AI campus in Abilene, Texas. It has already secured and developed 4 gigawatts of power on the Texas grid, with another 15 gigawatts of projects awaiting interconnection. Those assets span supply for the Abilene Stargate site, a Crusoe-built Microsoft data center, a QTS Data Centers project in Turkey, Texas, and another Crusoe development in Childress. The report said the investment is pure equity and does not include credit support for construction or leasing. It also comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott has paused new grid interconnection applications for data centers, adding uncertainty to the timing of future expansion. Separately, Lancium is said to be considering an IPO in 2027.1920
Ionic Digital2026-08-01 12:57:36Ionic Digital lists on Nasdaq after pivot from Bitcoin mining to AI data center leasingIonic Digital, a company that emerged from the fallout of Celsius Network’s 2022 bankruptcy, made its Nasdaq debut on July 28, 2026 under the ticker IOND. Shares rose 25% on the first trading day, giving the company a market value of about $2.4 billion. Just weeks earlier, Ionic had closed a $400 million private financing round led by Attestor, Oaktree Capital and Sachem Head, with Citadel participating, at a pre-money valuation of $2 billion. The company’s business has shifted sharply away from Bitcoin mining and toward AI data center leasing in Texas. Its flagship Ward County facility, with 234 megawatts of capacity, has been fully leased to cloud provider Nscale under a 10.5-year agreement worth about $1.95 billion. An expanded agreement signed in February 2026 could raise the total to about $2.6 billion if an additional 89 megawatts are delivered in the second half of 2027. First-quarter 2026 results show how quickly the model has changed. Ionic reported $51.4 million in revenue, including $44 million from data center leasing and $7.4 million from Bitcoin mining. The company still holds 2,861 BTC and had 95.7 BTC of production in the quarter, but mining now accounts for less than 15% of revenue. The company also faces concentration risk, as Nscale represents nearly all of its contracted leasing income, while construction timing remains a key variable for future revenue recognition.1940
