River Bend AI Mega-Campus
Status: Announced / Under Development | Location: River Bend, Louisiana, USA
Project Overview
On December 17, 2025, Hut 8 Corp. announced a definitive agreement to develop one of the world's largest AI-specific data center clusters at its River Bend campus in Louisiana, USA. This $7 billion (base lease value) project is a strategic response to the extreme compute demands of frontier AI models. The deal is unique in its structure: Hut 8 provides the power and physical infrastructure, Fluidstack operates the high-performance clusters, and Anthropic serves as the primary tenant for its massive AI training needs. Notably, Google is providing a financial backstop for the 15-year lease, highlighting the inter-corporate synergy required to fund gigawatt-scale infrastructure.
The project is designed to solve the primary bottleneck in modern AI: power availability. The "River Bend" site leverages a direct partnership with Entergy to deliver an initial 245 MW of IT capacity, with a roadmap to scale up to a staggering 2.29 GW (2,295 MW) of utility capacity. This makes it a "Gigawatt-scale" project, rare even in the hyperscale market.
To support the heat density of Anthropic’s next-generation workloads, the facility is being "built with" high-density liquid cooling and custom-designed racks from Vertiv. The construction is being managed by Jacobs, ensuring an institutional-grade delivery. This project represents a shift in the industry toward "Power-First" development, where data centres are built around the most robust energy nodes rather than traditional fibre hubs. The full buildout is expected to be a multi-year effort, solidifying the region as a primary "AI Backbone" for North America.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | River Bend AI Mega-Campus |
| Location | River Bend, Louisiana, USA |
| Status | Announced / Under Development |
| Commissioning | Phase 1: 2026 |
| Total IT Load | 245 MW (Initial) | Up to 2,295 MW (Total Potential) |
| Total Capacity | 1.4 GW+ Planned IT Load |
| Tier Level | Tier III+ (AI-Optimized) |
| Project Type | Greenfield / Hyperscale AI Campus |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
|---|
| City Name | Baton Rouge Area (Regional Hub) |
| Population | ~220,000 (City) |
| Urban Agglomeration | ~870,000 (Metro) |
| City GDP | ~$55 Billion |
| Per Capita Income | ~$58,000 |
| City Tier | Tier 3 (Emerging AI Corridor) |
| Key Strengths | Heavy Energy Infrastructure, Port Access, Low Power Costs |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Developer / Operator | Hut 8 Corp. |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | Google (Financial Backstop), Anthropic (Tenant) |
| Construction Contractor | Jacobs |
| MEP Engineering | Vertiv / Jacobs |
| Network Connectivity | Global Tier-1 Fiber Backbone |
| Power Infrastructure | Entergy (Direct Utility Partner) |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Power Capacity | 330 MW (Phase 1 Utility) | 2.3 GW (Total) |
| UPS Redundancy | Custom AI-redundancy (Optimized for Inference/Training) |
| Cooling System | Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling (Vertiv Solutions) |
| Connectivity | Ultra-low latency to Google Cloud/Azure Nodes |
| PUE Target | < 1.15 |
| Energy Mix | Integrated Utility Power with Renewable Offsets |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | December 17, 2025 |
| Construction Start | Q1 2026 |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | Late 2026 |
| Full Buildout | 2030+ |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | $7 Billion (Initial Lease) | Up to $17.7 Billion (Total) |
| Funding | Corporate Backed / J.P. Morgan & Goldman Sachs |