Applied Digital hits 1 GW AI infrastructure milestone as former crypto miner pivots hard into data centers

Applied Digital Corporation, formerly known as Applied Blockchain, Inc., has crossed 1 GW of contracted critical IT load capacity across its AI data center campuses. The company now trades on NASDAQ under the ticker APLD and has contracted over 1,200 MW of critical IT load across four AI Factory campuses.

From crypto mines to AI factories

The company rebranded from Applied Blockchain, Inc. and redirected its expertise in high-density power delivery toward AI and high-performance computing workloads. The facilities can still handle blockchain applications, but AI and HPC represent the growth trajectory.

The flagship development is Polaris Forge 1 in Ellendale, North Dakota. As of early July 2026, the campus reached 175 MW of operational AI capacity after delivering Phase 1 of Building 2, which added 75 MW on top of the initial 100 MW building completed earlier. That delivery came on schedule.

The entire Polaris Forge 1 campus is fully leased to CoreWeave under agreements spanning approximately 15 years, with the site scaling toward a contracted 400 MW total. The estimated revenue from those CoreWeave leases alone sits at roughly $11 billion.

The money behind the megawatts

The company secured a $5 billion perpetual preferred equity facility with Macquarie Asset Management, drawing an initial $112.5 million in October 2025.

Fiscal Q2 2026 revenue hit $126.6 million, representing a 250% increase year-over-year. The company faces substantial debt obligations and execution risks as it attempts to bring multiple campuses online simultaneously, scaling from 175 MW of live capacity to over 1,200 MW of contracted capacity.

Why crypto investors should pay attention

Applied Digital’s journey mirrors a trend reshaping the intersection of crypto and AI infrastructure. Companies like Hut 8, Core Scientific, and Iris Energy have all explored similar pivots from crypto mining toward AI compute. Applied Digital went further than most, effectively abandoning the blockchain branding entirely.

CoreWeave itself originated as a crypto mining operation before becoming one of the most prominent GPU cloud providers serving AI workloads. When one client represents the overwhelming majority of anticipated revenue, any disruption to that relationship becomes an existential threat.

Investors evaluating APLD should watch three things closely: whether subsequent campus deliveries hit their timelines, how CoreWeave’s own financial health evolves post-IPO, and whether Applied Digital can diversify its customer base beyond a single hyperscaler.

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