Core Scientific’s transformation from bankrupt Bitcoin miner to U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure provider accelerated during the second quarter of 2026.
The company reported approximately 1.1 gigawatts of leased customer power capacity and more than $24 billion in potential revenue under long-term contracts.
The July 28 results also showed that high-density colocation had become the company’s largest business. Colocation produced $136.7 million of Core Scientific’s $164.2 million in quarterly revenue. Digital asset self-mining contributed $21.5 million.
The turnaround is supported by signed contracts with CoreWeave and companies deploying AMD technology. However, the $24 billion figure is neither cash received nor guaranteed profit. It represents potential revenue spread across contracts lasting as long as 15 years.
Core Scientific must still construct the facilities, deliver capacity on schedule and keep customers operating under those agreements. Its latest filing also shows that the transition requires heavy spending and considerably more debt.
Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 protection in December 2022 after Bitcoin prices fell, electricity costs rose and financing conditions tightened. The company also faced a payment dispute with bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius, previously one of its mining-hosting customers.
The company had about $4 million in cash when it filed. Its problem was not an absence of physical assets. It had already invested heavily in mining facilities, substations, land, equipment and access to utility power. Those assets could not produce enough cash to meet its immediate liabilities during the market downturn.
A Texas bankruptcy court confirmed the company’s reorganization plan in January 2024. Core Scientific emerged later that month and resumed Nasdaq trading under the CORZ ticker. The restructuring reduced its debt by approximately $400 million through conversions of equipment financing and convertible-note claims into equity.
More importantly, the company retained 724 megawatts of operating capacity across five U.S. states. That infrastructure became valuable as AI companies began competing for sites with secured power, fiber connections and space for high-density computing equipment.
Building a new data center can require years of grid studies, permits and construction. Core Scientific already controlled energized sites built for power-intensive Bitcoin mining. Management began marketing that infrastructure to AI customers seeking faster deployment.
Core Scientific’s commercial shift began with CoreWeave. In June 2024, the companies signed 12-year agreements covering about 200 megawatts of high-performance computing infrastructure. Core Scientific estimated more than $3.5 billion of cumulative revenue under the initial contracts.
Several expansions increased CoreWeave’s contracted capacity to approximately 590 megawatts. Core Scientific now associates those agreements with approximately $10.2 billion in potential revenue over their terms.
The contracts also reduced some of Core Scientific’s initial financing burden. CoreWeave agreed to fund parts of the construction, with those amounts credited against future hosting payments. During the first six months of 2026, CoreWeave funded $180.9 million of Core Scientific’s capital expenditures.
As crypto.news previously reported, the company sold $208.3 million of Bitcoin to finance its AI transition during the first quarter. The sale represented a clear change from a model centered on accumulating and mining BTC.
CoreWeave attempted to acquire Core Scientific before the infrastructure transition was fully completed. Core Scientific rejected a $5.75-per-share cash offer in 2024, saying it undervalued the business.
The companies agreed to an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $9 billion in July 2025. Shareholders rejected the transaction on Oct. 30, after opposition focused on the fixed exchange ratio, valuation and exposure to CoreWeave’s share price. The companies then terminated the agreement but retained their commercial relationship.
Core Scientific announced a wider infrastructure partnership with AMD on July 28, 2026. The arrangement starts with approximately 530 megawatts across five U.S. sites under 15-year agreements.
The company associates that initial capacity with more than $14 billion in potential base contract revenue. Deployments are scheduled to begin in 2027 and will support customers using AMD Instinct accelerators, EPYC processors and ROCm software.
AMD also received reservation rights covering another 1.925 gigawatts. If all reserved capacity becomes contracted, the partnership could reach approximately 2.5 gigawatts.
That larger figure remains conditional. Reservation rights are not the same as executed leases. Development will depend on customer demand, available grid capacity, construction progress and additional financing.
The arrangement gave AMD warrants to purchase as many as 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47 each. Approximately 6.5 million warrants vested after related leases were executed in July, according to Core Scientific’s quarterly filing.
Some initial capacity was leased to AI infrastructure operator Neocloud. AMD entered a credit-support arrangement connected to equipment installed for Neocloud, but the filed contracts do not describe AMD as an unconditional guarantor of every Neocloud payment.
The expansion reduces Core Scientific’s reliance on CoreWeave at the contracted-capacity level. Customer concentration nevertheless remains material because a limited number of counterparties support most of the company’s colocation revenue.
Core Scientific’s financial results show that the transition has advanced beyond announced plans. Second-quarter colocation revenue rose to $136.7 million from $10.6 million one year earlier.
The segment produced approximately $80 million in quarterly gross profit and a margin near 59%. Self-mining produced $21.5 million in revenue but recorded a gross loss of approximately $12.2 million.
Core Scientific said 437 megawatts were generating billable revenue by the end of the quarter. That capacity represented about $635 million in annualized GAAP hosting revenue, based on the company’s calculation.
The business was not profitable under GAAP. Core Scientific reported a quarterly net loss of approximately $1.16 billion and an operating loss of $78.5 million.
About $1.05 billion of the net loss came from fair-value changes involving warrants and contingent value rights. Those expenses were non-cash accounting charges linked mainly to movements in Core Scientific’s share price. They did not represent an equivalent cash payment during the quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA reached $41.1 million. This is a non-GAAP measure that excludes several expenses and should not be treated as equivalent to net income or unrestricted cash flow.
CORZ traded near $18.72 on Aug. 20, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $6.1 billion. The share price remained several times above its $3.44 closing price on the first day after its January 2024 relisting.
Core Scientific spent $954.2 million on property and equipment during the first half of 2026. It also completed a roughly $232.5 million acquisition of land and development rights for a proposed 430-megawatt site in Hunt County, Texas.
The company financed part of its expansion by issuing $3.3 billion of senior secured notes in May. The notes carry a 7.75% interest rate and mature in 2031. Long-term debt reached approximately $4.3 billion by June 30, up from about $1.06 billion at the end of 2025.
Core Scientific held approximately $1.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents and digital assets at quarter-end. However, it expects continued construction spending as it converts former mining sites and develops new campuses.
The company’s first-half operating cash flow also requires context. It benefited from Bitcoin sales, customer construction funding and changes in working capital. Those sources do not show that recurring colocation income can already finance the full development program independently.
Similar economics are encouraging other miners to reuse power infrastructure. In related coverage, crypto.news found that Bitcoin miners are increasingly converting energized sites into AI data centers as mining margins weaken.
Core Scientific’s immediate targets include bringing more CoreWeave capacity online and starting the contracted AMD-related deployments in 2027. Delivery schedules, construction spending, customer performance and additional lease conversions will determine how much of the advertised backlog becomes recognized revenue.
The turnaround rests on a genuine shift in revenue, but its completion remains forward-looking. Core Scientific has exchanged direct exposure to Bitcoin prices and mining difficulty for construction, financing and customer-credit risks. The company’s next test is converting contracted megawatts into reliable, billable computing capacity without allowing its debt burden to outpace operating earnings.
Core Scientific reported approximately 1.1 gigawatts of leased customer power capacity at the end of the second quarter.
No. It is the company’s estimate of potential revenue across long-term contracts. Recognition depends on construction, service commencement, uptime and customer performance.
The initial 15-year agreements cover approximately 530 megawatts across five sites. AMD holds reservation rights that could increase the partnership to 2.5 gigawatts.
Yes, but the operation is shrinking. Self-mining generated $21.5 million in second-quarter revenue and recorded a gross loss.
Its principal challenges include construction spending, higher debt, customer concentration and delivering contracted capacity on schedule.
