- Core Scientific signed 15-year leases with AMD for 529MW across five U.S. campuses, generating $14B+ in potential base contracted revenue [1] - AMD directly leases 377MW across Pecos and Hunt County, Texas and Muskogee, Oklahoma; an unnamed cloud provider leases 152MW in Auburn, Alabama and Dalton, Georgia with AMD credit support [3] - AMD holds exclusive reservation rights for up to 1,925MW of additional capacity through December 28, 2028, potentially expanding the partnership to 2.5GW [3] - First megawatts are expected at the Pecos, Texas campus in H1 2027, with roughly half the 530MW delivered in 2027 and the remainder in 2028 [4] - AMD received warrants for up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47, with 6.5 million vesting upon initial lease signing
[3] Core Scientific (CORZ) and AMD (AMD) announced a 15-year infrastructure partnership covering approximately 529MW of AI data center capacity across five U.S. campuses. The deal represents more than $14 billion in potential base contracted revenue and doubles Core Scientific's total leased AI capacity to roughly 1.1GW [1] [2].
Under the agreement, AMD will directly lease 377MW across three sites — Pecos, Texas; Hunt County, Texas; and Muskogee, Oklahoma — on triple-net terms. A separate 152MW tranche in Auburn, Alabama and Dalton, Georgia is leased by an unnamed cloud provider with AMD providing credit support under modified gross lease structures [3] [4].
AMD also secured exclusive reservation rights for up to 1,925MW of additional capacity through December 28, 2028. If exercised in full, the partnership would expand to approximately 2.5GW of leasable capacity [3]. The companies will collaborate on data center design and deployment of AMD Instinct GPUs, EPYC processors, and the ROCm software platform
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[1]The announcement came alongside Core Scientific's Q2 2026 earnings, which showed colocation revenue of $136.7 million — up 76% quarter-over-quarter and now representing 83% of the company's total revenue. As of mid-July, Core Scientific was billing for 437MW of AI capacity [2].
The Deal Terms #
The 530MW commitment is structured across two lease types. AMD's direct triple-net leases cover 377MW at three sites, while the remaining 152MW at Auburn and Dalton operates under modified gross leases with a cloud provider tenant backed by AMD credit support [3] [4].
Base contracted revenue exceeds $14 billion over the 15-year term, with 2.5% annual escalators built into the agreements. Core Scientific estimates the build-out will cost $11–12 million per megawatt, implying roughly $6 billion in AMD-funded capital expenditure requirements [4].
As part of the transaction, AMD received warrants to purchase up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at a strike price of $23.47 per share. Of those, 6.5 million warrants vest upon initial lease signing [3]. The warrant structure aligns AMD's interests with Core Scientific's equity performance over the life of the partnership.
Deployment Timeline & Campus Details #
First deliveries are expected in H1 2027 at the Pecos, Texas campus, where the building is already fully complete [4]. Core Scientific plans to deliver approximately 265MW — roughly half the initial commitment — during 2027, with the remaining 265MW following in 2028
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[4]Core Scientific operates 11 data centers across seven states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas [2]. The five campuses selected for the AMD partnership span four of those states, leveraging existing infrastructure and power interconnections.
The company's target annual delivery capacity is approximately 600MW by 2028, a pace that would support both the initial AMD commitment and potential option exercises [4].
AMD's Strategic Play #
The deal represents AMD's single largest infrastructure commitment and positions it to compete more directly with Nvidia's established presence in AI data center deployments. AMD's Instinct GPUs have gained traction among cloud providers but the company has historically lacked the guaranteed capacity pipeline that Nvidia commands through partners like CoreWeave [1] [5].
Analyst Matt Kimball of Moor Insights & Strategy characterized AMD's approach as 'selling a deployment path' rather than simply selling accelerators — using its balance sheet to reduce deployment risk for customers needing high-density AI infrastructure where power and cooling are critical constraints [1].
The exclusive reservation rights through December 2028 give AMD a call option on nearly 2GW of additional capacity across Pecos, Hunt County, and Muskogee, drawing on incremental grid-connected power and behind-the-meter solutions [3] [4].
Core Scientific's AI Pivot #
The AMD partnership accelerates Core Scientific's transformation from Bitcoin miner to AI infrastructure provider. Q2 2026 colocation revenue hit $136.7 million, up 76% from Q1 and now comprising 83% of total revenue. Self-mining revenue fell 66% to $21.5 million [2] [3].
The company also terminated its agreement to purchase Block's 3-nanometer bitcoin-mining ASICs during the quarter, recording a $41.9 million charge. Core Scientific held just 848 BTC ($49.7 million) as of June 30, 2026 [3].
With the AMD deal, Core Scientific's total contracted portfolio reaches approximately 1.1GW of leased capacity, representing more than $24 billion in potential revenue. The company reported $1.82 billion in liquidity and $797.5 million in Q2 capital expenditures [2].
Market Context #
The deal is one of the largest AI colocation commitments announced in 2026, rivaling CoreWeave's multi-gigawatt pipeline and Microsoft's ongoing hyperscale expansion. It signals that chipmakers beyond Nvidia are now willing to commit significant capital to secure dedicated infrastructure [1] [5].
Core Scientific's Q2 adjusted EBITDA reached $41.1 million, up from $8.9 million in Q1, while gross margins improved to 43% in H1 2026 from 8% in H1 2025. The company reported a net loss of $1.16 billion in Q2, driven primarily by a $1.05 billion non-cash warrant fair value adjustment [2].
Companies mentioned #
Further sources #
[[1] Data Center Knowledge – Core Scientific Doubles AI Capacity to 1.1 GW in $14B A… ↗](https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/deals/core-scientific-doubles-ai-capacity-to-1-1-gw-in-14b-amd-deal)
[[2] Core Scientific Q2 2026 Earnings Press Release ↗](https://investors.corescientific.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/139/core-scientific-announces-second-quarter-2026-results)
[3] CoinDesk – Core Scientific lands AMD AI deal as bitcoin mining operation winds … ↗
[4] Investing.com – Earnings call transcript: Core Scientific Q2 2026 ↗
[5] TechTimes – AMD's $14B Data Center Bet on Core Scientific Targets Nvidia's AI I… ↗
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