Applied Digital signs $7.5 billion AI data center lease with US hyperscaler

April 23, 2026 9:36 AM EDT

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

April 23 (Reuters) - Applied Digital ‌has signed a ​long-term ​lease worth $7.5 billion with an unnamed U.S.-based hyperscaler at its new Delta Forge 1 site, it said on ‌Thursday, strengthening its position as a data center provider for ⁠artificial intelligence workloads.

Shares of the company jumped more than 12% in early trading ‌following the announcement.

The 15-year lease ‌covers 300 megawatts of computing capacity at the 430‑megawatt Delta Forge 1 site in southern U.S., the company said.

The deal makes ​the customer Applied Digital's second U.S.-based investment‑grade hyperscale tenant across its data center sites and lifts total contracted lease revenue to ⁠more than $23 billion.

The agreement comes as demand for data centers continues to climb, with major ​technology companies including Amazon, Alphabet's Google, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle — collectively called hyperscalers — investing billions of dollars to secure ​facilities with enough computing power and cooling ‌to support AI systems.

More than half of Applied Digital's contracted revenue is now backed by investment-grade customers, ⁠the company said.

Applied Digital builds and operates large data centers designed to support AI, cloud computing and other data‑intensive workloads, placing it among companies benefiting ⁠from the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure.

Separately, Applied Digital said it expects to ​secure up to $600 million in financing, including a $300 million senior secured bridge facility for development at its Polaris Forge 1 campus and an up to $300 million ‌revolving credit facility to fund broader development and working capital needs.

Delta Forge 1 is the company's newest ‌campus, spanning more than 500 acres and built to handle large‑scale ⁠AI operations.

The site is designed ‌with high‑capacity power and ​cooling systems, and initial operations are expected to begin in mid‑2027.

(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by ‌Sahal Muhammed)



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