IREN co-founder Daniel Roberts has outlined an ambitious plan to evolve the company into a fully vertically integrated AI infrastructure platform, spanning energy supply, data centers, GPU computing, and enterprise software layers.
In a detailed post on X on Friday, Roberts said the key constraint on artificial intelligence growth is no longer chip availability, but the underlying physical infrastructure required to support it.
“AI demand grows exponentially. Infrastructure doesn’t,” he wrote, pointing to increasing pressure on power supply, land access, cooling systems, and data center buildouts.
Roberts described IREN’s strategy as a three-layer model: the foundation layer of physical infrastructure such as power and data centers, a compute layer built on NVIDIA GPUs and servers, and an application layer focused on enterprise software and operational tooling.
He emphasized that “Layers 1 and 2 are where the overwhelming majority of IREN’s value is being created today,” while “Layer 3 is where that advantage compounds over time.”
Previously known as Iris Energy, IREN has expanded beyond bitcoin mining into the broader AI infrastructure space, mirroring a wider industry trend. The company now operates across Texas, British Columbia, Oklahoma, Spain, and Australia, with approximately 5 gigawatts of secured grid-connected capacity, according to Roberts.
He added that owning the entire infrastructure stack could create a long-term competitive advantage as global AI demand continues to surge, especially in underserved regions such as Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The update also highlighted IREN’s growing collaboration with NVIDIA (NVDA), including a recently announced five-year AI cloud agreement worth $3.4 billion tied to Blackwell GPU deployments in Texas.
Separately, WhiteFiber (WYFI) disclosed a five-year AI compute deal valued at over $160 million with an investment-grade technology customer in France. The project will utilize NVIDIA GPUs and further expand WhiteFiber’s footprint in Europe.
WhiteFiber provides AI cloud and high-performance computing services built on third-party data center infrastructure, while IREN focuses on owning and operating the underlying physical assets.
Following the announcements, WYFI shares surged 22% on Thursday and added another 5% in Friday premarket trading, while IREN gained around 10% on Thursday.
