U.S. Bitcoin miners are increasingly converting their energy-intensive facilities into data centers to serve the booming artificial intelligence industry. [15, 16, 19] The move is driven by a prolonged slump in the cryptocurrency market, which has diminished mining profitability, and a simultaneous surge in demand for the power and infrastructure that miners already possess. [23, 24]
This strategic shift is being led by several publicly traded companies, including Riot Platforms, Core Scientific, and TeraWulf, which have signed long-term, multi-billion dollar contracts to provide AI computing capacity. [5, 7, 14, 28] The pivot to the more lucrative AI sector is undermining former President Donald Trump's goal of centering Bitcoin mining in the US, as these firms transition from crypto mining to large-scale data center operations. [23, 24, 28]