Meta, Microsoft step up AI investment…Bitcoin miners pivoting to mining and infrastructure seen as beneficiaries

As US big tech companies reaffirm their commitment to ramping up investment in artificial intelligence (AI), Bitcoin mining firms that have pivoted their businesses toward AI infrastructure are back in the spotlight. With Meta and Microsoft unveiling large-scale capital expenditure plans, analysts say miners that own power and data-center infrastructure could be indirect beneficiaries.

According to CoinDesk on the 29th (local time), Meta guided 2026 capital expenditures to a range of $115 billion to $135 billion. That tops the market consensus of $110 billion, and reflects investment to expand Meta Superintelligence Labs and its core AI businesses. Microsoft, too, has positioned AI as a central pillar of long-term growth and made it clear it has no plans to slow the pace of investment.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, stressed that "in the earnings release, he explained that the AI business has already grown into one of the company’s main businesses. He added that AI technology sits at the center of enterprise-wide value creation and has ample long-term growth potential." The market is interpreting such remarks from big tech as a signal supporting expanding demand for AI infrastructure.

This backdrop is creating a new opportunity for mining firms that have faced profitability pressure since the Bitcoin halving. Miners are diversifying their business models by using existing data centers and power infrastructure to attract servers for AI computing and cloud services. The view is that securing revenue streams beyond Bitcoin mining is also improving their financial structures.

In fact, some miners are accelerating their shift into AI infrastructure providers by signing direct contracts with global big tech. Iren signed a multi-year cloud services agreement with Microsoft to support Nvidia chip-based AI workloads. Cipher Mining signed a deal to supply AWS with 300 megawatts of power.

Share-price performance is also reflecting the transition. Iren is up 47% year-to-date, and 524% from a year earlier. Cipher Mining has gained 17% so far in 2026 and is up 322% over the past year. Hut 8 is also cited as a successful AI-infrastructure pivot, with the stock up 26% since the start of the year.