Cryptomine and HPC data center firm Cipher Mining Inc. has acquired AI cloud firm Fluidstack as a customer in a deal that will see Google invest in the company.

The Nasdaq-listed firm this week announced a ten-year high-performance computing (HPC) colocation agreement with Fluidstack.

Under the agreement, Cipher will deliver 168MW of critical IT load, supported by a maximum of 244MW of gross capacity, at its in-development Barber Lake site in Colorado City, Texas. The lease is due to start in October 2026.

The agreement represents approximately $3 billion in contracted revenue over the initial ten-year term and includes two five-year extension options. If exercised, these extension options would bring the total contract revenue to approximately $7bn.

As part of the deal, Google will backstop $1.4bn of Fluidstack’s lease obligations to support project-related debt financing and will receive warrants to acquire approximately 24 million shares of Cipher common stock, equating to an approximately 5.4 percent pro forma equity ownership stake.

Cipher said it plans to retain full ownership of the project and access the capital markets as necessary to fund a portion of the site’s development.

“We are thrilled to be working with Fluidstack to develop HPC data centers, and we look forward to welcoming Google as an investor in Cipher. This transformative transaction reinforces our HPC momentum as we continue to attract attention for our large and growing pipeline of sites,” said Tyler Page, Cipher CEO. “We believe this transaction represents the first of several in the HPC space as we continue to scale our capabilities and strengthen our position in this rapidly growing sector.”

“Fluidstack understands what it takes to deliver the compute this moment requires,” said César Maklary, co-founder and president of Fluidstack. “Together with Cipher Mining, we’re committed to accelerating the development of critical infrastructure on which frontier AI companies depend.”

The deal is similar to one Fluidstack and Google recently signed with TeraWulf, another cryptomine and HPC data center firm with a campus in New York. Fluidstack has contracted around 360MW of capacity at the site at the Lake Mariner data center campus, with Google taking a 14 percent stake in the firm.

Cipher said the Barber Lake site had potential for 500MW in capacity expansion as well as 587 acres of surrounding land, making it well-suited to meet future expansion needs.

Cipher was spun off from Bitcoin mining hardware giant Bitfury in March 2021 and went public via a merger with blank-check company Good Works Acquisition Corp.

SoftBank recently invested $50m in Cipher in a deal that gave it first rights to buy the undeveloped Barber Lake site.

Cipher’s current portfolio includes cryptomining sites in Odessa and Alborz, and two other joint venture sites near Andrews, known as Bear and Chief.

As well as Barber Lake, the company recently acquired a development site known as Reveille in Cotulla that will initially offer 70MW, but is said to be scalable to 200MW. The company is also developing a site known as Black Pearl in West Texas that could offer 300MW.

Cipher’s most recent presentation also notes the Mikeska (500MW, outside Brady), Milsing (500MW, outside Houston), and McLennan (500MW, outside Waco) sites, which are expected to energize in 2027. A 100MW Stingray site is also noted.