AI Gold Rush Draws Crypto Firms Away From Bitcoin

Bitcoin mining companies are shifting computing power and investment toward AI as falling mining rewards and a weaker bitcoin price make the business less attractive, according to BBC. Firms including TerraWulf, Ionic Digital, Core Scientific, Iris Energy, Bitdeer, Riot Platforms and Hut 8 are redirecting infrastructure to AI and high-performance computing, while some are changing company names and websites to reflect the move.Riot Platforms signed a $9bn, 20-year compute deal with Anthropic earlier this month, and Bitdeer announced a 16-year deal to provide compute for Anthropic. Enegix, which opened a large bitcoin mining site in Kazakhstan in 2020, said it is in active talks with AI and HPC companies and plans to shift a significant portion of its business to AI infrastructure. The article said refitting crypto mines for AI is expensive, and some firms have sold bitcoin holdings to help fund the transition.