Activist investor Starboard Value is pressing Riot Platforms to rapidly expand its high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence data center business, calling the opportunity urgent and potentially worth billions.
Starboard Value Demands Accelerated Pivot to AI and HPC
In a Wednesday letter to Riot Platforms’ leadership, Starboard Value—which holds approximately 12.7 million shares—argued that the Bitcoin miner could unlock between $9 billion and $21 billion in equity value by monetizing its remaining 1.4 gigawatts of gross capacity for AI and HPC applications in Texas. The firm stressed that “time is of the essence,” urging Riot to secure “more material deals” to capitalize on this growing market.
Starboard highlighted Riot’s key facilities in Corsicana and Rockdale, Texas, as strategic assets. These sites benefit from the state’s low energy costs and regulatory environment, which have also attracted other cryptocurrency miners. “Riot is in an enviable position—but it must execute with excellence and urgency,” the letter stated, adding that the company should aim for tenant terms comparable to or better than recent peer transactions expected by late 2025.
The letter referenced Riot’s January announcement of a data center lease and services agreement with Advanced Micro Devices. Starboard called this a “positive signal” and “small proof of concept deal,” but emphasized that it expects “significantly more” substantial agreements to follow. Following the letter, Riot’s share price rose nearly 6% in early Nasdaq trading, a move that contrasted with the less than 1% decline in the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF.
Industry-Wide Shift as Miners Chase AI and HPC Revenue
Riot Platforms is not alone in seeking diversification. Faced with rising mining difficulty and operational costs, numerous Bitcoin mining companies are repurposing infrastructure or announcing plans to enter the AI and HPC space. CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, Hut 8, and TeraWulf have all made moves in this direction.
Last week, fellow Bitcoin miner Cango sold approximately $305 million worth of its BTC holdings, with proceeds partially earmarked to fund its own planned expansion into AI and HPC data centers. This trend underscores a broader strategic reorientation within the sector, as companies leverage existing power infrastructure and land to serve the computationally intensive demands of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, which often offer more predictable revenue streams than cryptocurrency mining.
Source: Starboard Value
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