Welcome to AI Collision š„,
In todayās collision between AI and our world:
- From crypto to compute
- 235% in a year isn’t too shabby
- Mother dancefloor blessings
If thatās enough to get the mining rigs computing read onā¦
AI Collision š„
This weekās installment of AI Factory Fortunes profiles a lesser-known company at the crossroads of AI and infrastructure.
Our series explores the unsung heroes enabling the AI revolution and building out the “AI Factories” of the future.
These companies are all one you should get to know, be familiar with and understand where they fit into the broader puzzle.
It should be noted, these are not stock recommendations.
They are profile pieces, information, an introduction if you will, so that you can use this info to heighten your own independent research and make more in depth decisions about your own investment portfolio.
Today we spotlight Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD).
They are a company that started in crypto mining but has reinvented itself as a builder of massive āAI factoryā campuses.
Applied Digital is already powering some of the biggest names in AI by providing the space and power they desperately need.
Applied Digital – Building the Heartlandās AI Factory for CoreWeave
Applied Digital may not be a familiar name on Wall Street yet, but itās making waves in the data center world.
The Dallas-based firm has struck huge deals to lease entire data center campuses to CoreWeave, the fast-growing AI cloud provider.
In 2025, Applied Digital signed long-term leases totaling 400Ā MW of capacity for CoreWeave at its North Dakota campus, translating to an eye-popping $11Ā billion in anticipated contracted revenue over 15 years.
Essentially, Applied Digital is building and operating mega-scale data centers (branded as its āPolaris Forgeā campus) and renting them wholesale to CoreWeave to use for AI compute.
Itās a bit like constructing an entire factory and leasing it to a single tenant… in this case, a tenant with deep pockets and a hunger for AI capacity.
CoreWeave, for context, is a pioneer in offering cloud GPU computing and famously landed multi-billion contracts with OpenAI (we’ll actually be profiling CoreWeave next week so make sure to check that one out!).
By partnering with Applied Digital, CoreWeave avoids sinking capital into building every data center itself, while Applied locks in a steady, long-term cash flow.
Appliedās CEO said about the deal,
This new lease…underpins our commitment to building the next generation of AI infrastructure right here in Americaās heartland
The North Dakota campus (dubbed Polaris Forge) can eventually scale to 1Ā gigawatt of IT load, a colossal capacity, leveraging the regionās cool climate and wind power to keep costs low.
Already, Applied is expanding in stages: the first 100Ā MW went live in late 2025, the next 150Ā MW is under construction for 2026, and another 150Ā MW was just added for 2027.
The financial implications are significant.
With the latest 150Ā MW lease finalized in August 2025, Appliedās total contracted backlog jumped to around $11Ā billion (up from $7Ā billion earlier in the year).
These leases span 15 years each, providing decades-long revenue. In fact, management has forecast net operating income around $1Ā billion once all this capacity is up and running.
For a company that only relatively recently pivoted from Bitcoin mining to data centers, this is a big turnaround.
Investors have taken note, and Applied Digitalās stock surged on news of these deals, reflecting optimism that the company will reap the rewards of the AI compute boom.
So what exactly does Applied Digital do to earn those billions?
Applied Digitalās partnership with CoreWeave effectively positions it as the build-to-suit developer for one of AIās most important cloud players.
CoreWeave, which recently expanded its OpenAI contract to a whopping $22.4Ā billion, needs somewhere to host all those GPUs.
Applied is providing that somewhere, and doing it fast.
In May 2025, Applied delivered two large leases (100Ā MW + 150Ā MW) at Polaris Forge to CoreWeave, then followed up with another 150Ā MW in August.
By leasing rather than outright owning, CoreWeave can treat these as operating expenses and avoid billions in upfront capital expenditure, while Applied basically becomes a utility-like business with giant AI tenants.
For investors, Applied Digital is a fascinating case of a small cap (albeit it’s now carrying an $8 billion valuation) riding the AI wave in an unexpected way.
A year ago, it was primarily viewed as a crypto proxy (operating some blockchain computing).
Today, itās valued for its 15-year contracts with an AI unicorn.
The stockās volatility has been high and it’s pumped price in the last year has been extraordinary.
We can’t look at a company like this however and not recognise that delivering on all this is crucial, and making sure their technology remains reliable is everything to their success.
One hidden upside is that Appliedās model is replicable too. It can rinse and repeat this āAI factoryā leasing for other clients or locations.
The company has hinted at additional campuses in development and other hyperscaler customers it could pursue.
If the North Dakota blueprint succeeds, why not build another in, say, West Texas or the Midwest where power is cheap?
Also, as an early mover, Applied has a chance to establish itself as the go-to specialist for rapid AI data center deployment. The demand is certainly there ā hyperscalers and labs are scrambling for space and power (as evidenced by Microsoftās massive deals with the likes of Nebius and CoreWeave).
Applied Digital is still one of those āpicks and shovelsā plays for the AI factory boom
In that, itās both picking and shoveling, by constructing the very facilities where AI gold is mined.
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Capital at risk.
Boomers & Busters š°
AI and AI-related stocks moving and shaking up the markets this week. (All performance data below over the rolling week).
Boom š
- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) up 3%
- IBM (NYSE:IBM) up 2%
- Meta (NASDAQ:META) up 2%
Bust š
- TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF) down 18%
- Everspin Technologies (NASDAQ:MRAM) down 17%
- Taiwain Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) down 5%
From the hive mind š§
- This may be the biggest question facing Tesla and its shareholders in the coming year. Is the company going to be a car company going forward, or is it going to be a robotics company? There’s quite literally trillions at stake.
- Ah, yes, when it comes to AI superintelligence and whether we should, or shouldn’t proceed with research around it, you know who I’d turn to first for my information and who I would listen to… Harry and Meghan.
- Pornography is a key aspect in the success of many audio and visual technologies over the years, from cinema to VHS, DVD, the internet, virtual reality, etc. So it does stand to reason that it also will play a significant role in the success (or lack thereof) of AI too.
Artificial Polltelligence š³ļø
Weirdest AI content of the day
ChatGPTās random quote of the day
“If you donāt fail at least 90% of the time, youāre not aiming high enough.”
ā Alan Kay
Thanks for reading, and donāt forget to leave comments and questions below,
