In a press statement on Tuesday, Iris Energy (IREN) said that it is renewing its strategy around hosting high-performance computing alongside bitcoin miners as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) continues to soar.Several miners have recently expanded into other forms of computing, including Applied Digital Corporation (APLD), Crusoe Energy, and Hut 8 Mining (HUT).By 2028, it is predicted that the need for data center space for AI would reach $76 billion, because to the rising popularity of huge language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Iris Energy intends to grow its data center capacity from its present 5.6 exahash/second (EH/s) to 9.1 EH/s by early 2024, the miner claimed.Around three to four years ago, “significant time was invested in exploring” a high performance computing strategy, “including signing a strategic memorandum of understanding with Dell Technologies in March 2020 to test and develop potential data center solutions for energy intensive compute applications, including leveraging Dell Technologies’ HPC and artificial intelligence expertise,” according to Iris Energy.
Recent events suggest that “the time may be right to expand into this sector,” employing either the current sites of Iris Energy or those that are being built, the business stated.According to the press announcement, the miner has purchased materials with lengthy lead times to expand and put out a second 100 MW facility, which would increase its mining hashrate to 13.6 EH/s if full with mining rigs.
Because miners have access to inexpensive electricity and data center infrastructure, it could appear simple for them to switch to AI and cloud computing.However, in terms of operating quality, uptime, and customer service, high-performance computing businesses have different needs than mining.