IREN

IREN was founded in Sydney in 2018 by the brothers Daniel and William Roberts as Iris Energy Limited. The company originated from an interest in Bitcoin and the idea of making energy-intensive mining more sustainable. In the same year, the founders acquired a data center complex in Canal Flats, British Columbia, Canada, which was connected to a former pulp mill.^[3] Further projects in British Columbia and Texas followed.

In November 2021, the company became a public company via an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, raising approximately US$232 million. After the IPO, IREN invested heavily in the expansion of additional sites. It gradually developed its data centers in Mackenzie and Prince George, with capacities of 50 to 85 MW. Overall, the company secured sites and options for more than 1 GW of total capacity in North America.^[2]

In 2023, IREN began to focus more strongly on AI and high-performance computing (HPC) in response to the global AI boom. As part of this strategic shift, the company announced in November 2024 that it had changed its name from Iris Energy Ltd to IREN Ltd.^[4] In parallel, IREN obtained major contracts in the AI sector. In November 2025, the company signed a US$9.7 billion agreement with Microsoft to provide GPU cloud infrastructure.^[5] In March 2026, IREN ordered more than 50,000 Nvidia GPUs, increasing its total capacity to 150,000 GPUs. At the same time, the company announced an at-the-market equity offering of up to US$6 billion to finance its expansion.^[6] In May 2026, a strategic partnership between Nvidia and IREN was announced.^[7] The deal gives Nvidia the option to purchase up to 30 million shares of the company at a price of $70 per share.^[8]

IREN develops and owns several data centers in North America and leases computing power for applications such as mining and AI, as well as entire server facilities through colocation services. Its sites include six main facilities: in Canada, Canal Flats in British Columbia with around 30 MW, Mackenzie with around 80 MW, and Prince George with around 50 MW; and in the United States, the Childress campus in Texas with 750 MW, the Sweetwater project in Texas under construction with 2,000 MW, and a development site in Oklahoma with 1,600 MW. In total, IREN secured sites and contracts for more than 4.5 GW of power capacity. At the beginning of 2026, around 810 MW of operating capacity had been energized, 2,100 MW were under construction, and a further 1,600 MW were under development. All sites are connected to the public electricity grid, but the company states that it sources 100% renewable energy through hydroelectric, wind or solar power, power purchase arrangements, or renewable energy certificates.^[9]

In October 2024, an investor filed a lawsuit against the company in New York alleging that IREN made misleading statements to investors regarding its high-performance computing capabilities, in particular that its data center in Childress, Texas, was not suitable for demanding HPC applications despite being marketed as such. The complaint alleged that key infrastructure, including backup power lines and cooling systems, was lacking and described statements by management as misleading.^[10]

A class action was filed after the IPO by shareholders who alleged that the company failed to disclose material risks, including risks related to debt. In September 2024, a United States court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that there was no sufficient evidence of intentional misrepresentation.^[11]