Riot Platforms, one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miners in the U.S., appointed Jaime Leverton, Doug Mouton, and Michael Turner to its board in February 2025 as the company evaluated whether to convert some of its power and infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC).
The appointments reflected the skills Riot needed for a potential move into data centers. In its February 13 press release, the company said Leverton brought experience converting Bitcoin mining assets for AI/HPC, Mouton had data-center design and construction experience, and Turner brought expertise in real estate investment and asset management.
Why Riot was looking beyond Bitcoin mining
Jaime Leverton, the former CEO of Bitcoin miner Hut 8, had experience expanding data-center operations and converting infrastructure toward higher-performance computing.
Doug Mouton previously held senior data-center roles at Meta and Microsoft, while Michael Turner was formerly president of Oxford Properties Group. Their backgrounds were relevant to Riot because the company’s large power portfolio could potentially support workloads that require much more electricity than conventional computing.
At the time, Riot was still assessing whether its existing facilities could be converted economically. The company had engaged advisers to study AI/HPC opportunities at its Corsicana, Texas facility, but acknowledged that conversion could require substantial investment and that there was no guarantee the strategy would succeed.
Riot’s Bitcoin mining business was also under pressure from the April 2024 halving. The company reported $70 million in Q2 2024 revenue, down from $76.7 million a year earlier. Power credits helped reduce its average direct cost to mine one Bitcoin to $25,327.
Also Read: Riot Platforms Moves 500 BTC to NYDIG as Market Watches for Another Bitcoin Sale
The AI/HPC strategy became a real business
Riot’s plans changed materially after the board appointments. In January 2026, the company signed a 10-year data-center lease with AMD for an initial 25 MW deployment at its Rockdale, Texas site. AMD later exercised an expansion option, bringing its contracted capacity to 50 MW.
By August 2026, Riot had gone further. The company said it had signed a 20-year lease for 191 MW with a leading frontier AI lab. Combined with AMD, Riot had 241 MW of contracted critical IT capacity and expected about $9.8 billion in revenue over the initial contract terms.
Riot also reported $23.2 million in data-center revenue for Q2 2026, showing that the strategy had moved from a proposal into an operating business. Its current portfolio includes 2.0 GW of fully approved power across its data-center sites.
The board changes therefore marked an early step in a much larger transformation. Riot remains a Bitcoin miner, but its power infrastructure has become a second business built around the growing demand for AI and high-density computing.
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