Google Invests $3 Billion in Cipher Mining to Power AI Infrastructure

Google has taken a bold step into the intersection of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence by acquiring a 5.4% stake in Bitcoin mining company Cipher Mining. The deal, announced Thursday, includes a massive $3 billion multi-year agreement with Fluidstack, an AI cloud platform specializing in high-performance computing (HPC) clusters. As part of the arrangement, Fluidstack will lease computing capacity from Cipher’s Barber Lake site in Colorado City, Texas, one of the largest AI-ready data center projects in the United States.

Cipher’s Barber Lake facility will deliver 168 megawatts of computing power to Fluidstack, supported by up to 244 MW of gross capacity, with potential expansion to 500 MW across its 587-acre property. To back the project, Google will guarantee $1.4 billion of Fluidstack’s lease obligations in exchange for warrants representing about 24 million shares of Cipher stock, making it a significant minority investor. This investment not only strengthens Cipher’s balance sheet but also signals Google’s growing interest in crypto-powered AI data centers.

Cipher CEO Tyler Page described the partnership as a “milestone” that will accelerate the company’s HPC ambitions, enabling it to handle frontier AI workloads at scale. The move follows Google’s similar $1.8 billion-backed deal with TeraWulf in August, where it secured an 8% stake while facilitating the miner’s pivot from pure Bitcoin mining to high-performance AI hosting. Analysts say these strategic investments highlight a growing trend of Bitcoin miners transitioning into AI infrastructure providers to capitalize on surging demand for computational power.

The deal could generate up to $7 billion in total revenue if two five-year extension options are exercised. Meanwhile, Cipher Mining’s stock saw a sharp rally from $14 to $17 before closing at $11.66, still marking a 151% year-to-date gain. The investment underscores a new era where AI, cryptocurrency mining, and energy-intensive data infrastructure converge to meet future digital demands.