TLDR
- CleanSpark has appointed Jeffrey Thomas as senior vice president of AI data centers to lead its expansion into AI infrastructure
- The company has identified Georgia as a strategic area for AI development and has secured additional energy contracts in College Park near Atlanta
- CleanSpark stock rose more than 13% on Monday and is up 140% year-to-date through 2025
- Core Scientific previously signed a $3.5 billion deal with CoreWeave to provide 200 megawatts of AI infrastructure
- Bitdeer is developing a 570-megawatt AI campus in Ohio with power expected to be available by late 2026
CleanSpark announced plans to expand into its AI data center infrastructure on Monday. The Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining company has appointed Jeffrey Thomas as senior vice president of AI data centers to oversee the initiative.
Clean Spark $CLSK Targets gigawatts for AI data centers
CEO Matt Schultz’s strategy: Securing gigawatts under contract first. “The first priority is power and territory because that is as rare as they come.” Meta and peers are seeking to build 500-1,000 megawatt sites, i.e. full gigawatt deployments.
Clean Spark… pic.twitter.com/SExyriRRP7
— Treasury Edge (@TreasuryEdge) October 17, 2025
Thomas previously served as Head of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers at Saudi Arabia’s Humin Artificial Intelligence Company. In this role, he led Saudi Arabia’s multi-billion dollar AI data center program. According to CleanSpark, Thomas has generated over $12 billion in shareholder value across 19 projects during his career.
The company has identified Georgia as a key location for its AI expansion. CleanSpark recently signed contracts for additional energy and real estate in College Park to serve the metro Atlanta area. The company is also evaluating larger campus opportunities across its existing portfolio.
Scott Garrison, CleanSpark’s chief development officer, said the company reviewed its entire portfolio to evaluate the suitability of AI. The evaluation process took into account conversion of existing facilities and new expansion opportunities.
Investors responded positively to this announcement. CleanSpark shares rose more than 13% on Monday. The stock is up 140% year-to-date in 2025.
Bitcoin miners turn to artificial intelligence services
Another major one Bitcoin Mining companies have taken similar steps since 2024. Core Scientific announced a $3.5 billion deal with AI cloud provider CoreWeave in June 2024. The agreement provides 200 megawatts of infrastructure to support high-performance computing operations over 12 years.
Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022. The company returned to the Nasdaq before launching its AI services. Core Scientific currently ranks as the world’s largest Bitcoin mining company by market capitalization.
Hut 8 launched GPU-as-a-service through a new subsidiary called Highrise AI in September 2024. The company received $150 million from Coatue Management in June to support the expansion of AI computing.
AI data center valuations rise
Recent market activity has increased valuations for data center infrastructure. BlackRock and Nvidia acquired Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion. The deal values data center capacity at about $8 million per megawatt, about 160% above current valuations for listed bitcoin miners.
Bitdeer Technologies is building a 570-megawatt campus in Clarington, Ohio. The company expects the facilities to be at capacity by late 2026, about a year earlier than originally scheduled. Bitdeer is also reviewing its 175 MW site in Norway for potential AI conversion.
Benchmark analysts noted that Bitdeer’s decision to handle AI data center development in-house could improve profit margins. The company valued Bitdeer at six times expected 2026 revenue. Bitdeer shares rose more than 9% on Monday to $26.20.
Iris Energy and Bitfarms have also added AI and data center services to their business models. CleanSpark plans to provide high-value computing services to the Atlanta metro area through its College Park facilities.
