HIVE Digital Technologies’ stock jumped after the company announced a landmark $220 million, three-year GPU cloud contract with Bell Canada and Cohere — a major signal that the miner is accelerating its move into high-performance AI computing.
Quick deal highlights
- Value/duration: $220 million over three years
- Provider: HIVE’s BUZZ High Performance Computing (BUZZ HPC) unit will deliver the GPU cloud layer
- Hardware: 2,304 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GPUs deployed at Bell AI Fabric’s data centre in Merritt, British Columbia
- Roles: Bell supplies the data centre and network services; Cohere runs foundation models and enterprise AI tools; Hypertec provides Canadian-built hardware
- Data residency: The compute layer will remain in Canada to meet sovereign-data requirements
- Timeline: Commercial deployment expected late 2026 to early 2027
Why it matters
- Revenue boost: The contract could add roughly $70 million in annual recurring revenue, pushing HIVE’s contracted high-performance computing revenue above $100 million when combined with its existing run rate. Prior to this deal, BUZZ HPC had about $35 million in contracted recurring revenue.
- Growth track: HIVE’s HPC revenue rose 94% year-over-year to $19.5 million in fiscal 2026, underlining momentum beyond its legacy Bitcoin-mining business.
- Strategic positioning: The project is designed to host Cohere’s enterprise AI models for Canadian government and corporate customers, supporting Canada’s push for domestic AI infrastructure. “Canada has the talent and innovation to lead in AI,” Bell AI Fabric executive Michel Richer said. Cohere’s Michael Pelosi emphasized enterprise and government buyers need clarity on “where those models run” and how data is kept protected.
Broader context
HIVE’s deal illustrates a growing trend among Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI and cloud services. Mining companies already own the power contracts, cooling systems, technical teams and facilities that can be repurposed to run GPU workloads when mining margins are weak. Other mining-linked firms such as IREN and Bitdeer have started converting data centre capacity for AI customers as well.
The Bell–Cohere contract also strengthens HIVE’s longer-term Canadian AI ambitions — including a previously announced proposed Toronto “super factory” with 320 MW of capacity and more than 100,000 GPUs — by giving the company a high-profile commercial customer and a clearer path to scale sovereign cloud infrastructure in Canada.
Bottom line: The $220 million deal not only lifted HIVE’s share price but also advances its strategic pivot from pure Bitcoin mining to becoming a credible player in the fast-growing market for onshore, enterprise-grade AI compute.
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