PANews reported on February 13 that Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms announced the appointment of three new directors to explore potential opportunities in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). The new directors include Michael Turner, former president of Oxford Properties, Jaime Leverton, former CEO of Hut 8 Mining, and Doug Mouton, a data center development expert who previously worked at Microsoft and Meta.
Riot plans to use its Corsicana facility in Texas for AI workloads and has hired investment banks Evercore and Northland Capital Markets to assist in the transition. This move is in line with industry trends. Bitcoin miners are seeking to develop new sources of revenue through hosting AI servers amid rising energy costs and reduced mining rewards. As previously reported, Riot's competitor Core Scientific has begun building AI infrastructure since 2019.
