Huge hyperscaler deal for AI campus

Applied Digital said Thursday it signed a 15-year lease with a U.S. hyperscaler for most of the capacity at its new Delta Forge 1 artificial intelligence campus. (ir.applieddigital.com) The deal covers 300 megawatts of critical information-technology load at Delta Forge 1, a campus Applied Digital says is designed for 430 megawatts of utility power. The company put the contract’s total value at about $7.5 billion. (ir.applieddigital.com, ir.applieddigital.com) Applied Digital announced the tenant on April 23, 2026, but did not name the customer. It described the company as a new U.S.-based, investment-grade hyperscaler and said the lease lifts Applied Digital’s total contracted revenue above $23 billion. (ir.applieddigital.com) A hyperscaler is a cloud company that rents or runs computing at enormous scale, and 300 megawatts is the kind of power draw normally discussed for utility projects, not a single data-center lease. Applied Digital said the space is being built for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing systems, which pack far more chips into each building than older server halls. (ir.applieddigital.com, ir.applieddigital.com) The agreement adds to a string of fixed-capacity commitments that cloud and artificial intelligence companies have been making as they race to secure power, land, and construction slots years in advance. Applied Digital said more than half of its contracted revenue is now backed by investment-grade customers. (ir.applieddigital.com) Delta Forge 1 is in a southern U.S. market that Applied Digital has not publicly identified. When it broke ground in January, the company said the site spans more than 500 acres and expected initial operations to begin in mid-2027. (ir.applieddigital.com, ir.applieddigital.com) Applied Digital has been building out a network of what it calls AI Factory campuses, including Polaris Forge 1 in Ellendale, North Dakota. Earlier company filings showed CoreWeave had already leased multiple buildings there, including an additional 150 megawatts disclosed in an August 2025 filing. (sec.gov, sec.gov) Thursday’s announcement also broadens the customer list. Applied Digital said the new tenant is its second U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler across three AI Factory campuses and its third hyperscale tenant overall. (ir.applieddigital.com) The immediate next step is construction and delivery: Applied Digital has the lease, the site, and a start date target in mid-2027. The open question is whether other developers can line up the same mix of power access, financing, and long-term customers at this scale. (ir.applieddigital.com, ir.applieddigital.com)