IREN's Rapid Expansion in AI Market Sparks Industry Interest

IREN, a U.S.-based company specializing in neocloud services, has been making waves in the AI market with a series of major deals and acquisitions. Founded in 2018, IREN initially focused on bitcoin mining before shifting its focus to the AI market in 2024.

In November 2025, IREN secured a $9.7 billion AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft, marking a significant milestone for the company. Since then, IREN has been rapidly expanding its operations, aiming to grow its fleet of GPUs to 150,000 and its data center capacity to 480 MW by the end of 2026.

IREN's recent $625 million acquisition of Mirantis, a provider of Kubernetes-based orchestration and enterprise services, reflects a growing trend among neoclouds to expand their software capabilities. This move is seen as a strategic effort by IREN to strengthen its position in the market and offer more comprehensive solutions to customers.