# HIVE pipes GPU compute 5,000 miles from Paraguay to Columbia University > Source: > Published: 2026-10-05 16:17:04+00:00 # HIVE pipes GPU compute 5,000 miles from Paraguay to Columbia University The former Bitcoin miner ran large language model pre-training for Columbia researchers on GPUs in Asunción, operated from New York over fiber-optic links HIVE Digital Technologies just ran an AI research project across two continents. The GPUs were in Paraguay. The researchers were in New York. Roughly 5,000 miles of fiber connected them. The company, listed on both the TSX and Nasdaq under the ticker HIVE, partnered with Columbia University’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. The goal was to test whether serious AI training can happen when the hardware sits on a different continent from the people running it. ## What actually happened HIVE operates a cluster of [Nvidia](https://cryptobriefing.com/markets/nvidia/) A40 GPUs in Asunción, Paraguay. Columbia researchers used that cluster remotely from New York to run pre-training workloads for large language models, or LLMs. The collaboration kicked off in March 2026 and wrapped up in June 2026. Over roughly two months, Columbia’s team worked on optimizing their code to squeeze more out of HIVE’s hardware. After those optimizations, HIVE’s A40 GPUs reportedly delivered performance comparable to Nvidia’s H100 chips under specific conditions tied to pre-training workloads of up to 1.4 billion parameters. The project also produced enough data to support a submission to the NeurIPS conference, one of the most prominent venues in machine learning research. ### AI, tech, and the markets they move—in one daily briefing. Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy. ## From shipping electricity to shipping compute Paraguay has abundant renewable hydroelectric power, largely sourced from the Itaipú Dam. HIVE currently runs 300 MW of hydroelectric capacity in Paraguay across its Valenzuela and Yguazú sites. A new 100 MW substation in Yguazú is set to energize by September 2026. Executive Chairman Frank Holmes framed the project as a milestone in moving from energy transmission to compute transmission. The Columbia project generated real-world measurements on latency and throughput, the two numbers that determine whether long-distance AI training is practical. ## The Bitcoin miner’s second act HIVE started out as a [Bitcoin](https://cryptobriefing.com/markets/bitcoin/) mining company. HIVE has been positioning itself as a sustainable digital infrastructure company rather than a pure crypto play. The company says the remote research is meant to guide the commercial scaling of its HPC business in Paraguay through 2027. Construction on a new data center in Yguazú is projected to begin in Fall 2026. ## What this means The A40 result adds a wrinkle worth watching. If software optimization can close part of the gap between older and newer GPUs on certain workloads, operators with existing hardware may have more commercial runway than assumed. The timeline gives observers some markers to track. The 100 MW substation is expected to energize by September 2026, and data center work is projected to start in Fall 2026. **Disclosure:** This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our [Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).