IREN delivered its first Microsoft AI data center and earned Nvidia 'Exemplar Cloud' status.

IREN Limited (IREN), a former Bitcoin miner now focused on AI infrastructure, delivered Horizon 1, its first AI data center, to Microsoft (MSFT) on Thursday. The achievement marked a significant milestone and contributed to the stock gaining as much as 7.2% in pre-market trading, making it one of the day's top trending tickers.

The milestone was accompanied by IREN achieving Nvidia's (NVDA) 'Exemplar Cloud' status, adding credibility to the company's expanding AI infrastructure business. Daniel Roberts, IREN's co-founder and co-CEO, commented: "Delivering Horizon 1 demonstrates the strength of our vertically integrated model and our ability to execute complex AI infrastructure projects at speed and scale." He added that IREN looks forward to "building on this momentum with Microsoft" as the remaining Horizon deployments come online.

Horizon 1 is a 50MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled AI Cloud facility located at IREN's Childress, Texas campus. It represents the first of four planned 50MW deployments under a five-year, $9.7 billion cloud services agreement with Microsoft announced in November 2025. The remaining three deployments—Horizon 2, Horizon 3, and Horizon 4—are expected to be delivered later this year.

IREN remains on track to reach 480MW of gross AI Cloud capacity by the end of 2026, with a longer-term target of 1.2 gigawatts in 2027. The company is part of a broader trend among Bitcoin miners pivoting toward AI infrastructure, a strategy also pursued by Core Scientific (CORZ), TeraWulf (WULF), and Cipher Mining (CIFR).

The Nvidia Exemplar Cloud designation reflects successful testing of Nvidia's GB300 NVL72 deployment at Horizon 1, indicating that IREN's infrastructure meets Nvidia's requirements for supporting demanding AI workloads. This credential could strengthen IREN's competitive position when pursuing additional enterprise and hyperscaler customers beyond its existing Microsoft agreement.

IREN stock has gained over 10% year-to-date and more than doubled over the past 12 months. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around IREN shifted to 'bullish' from 'bearish', while chatter increased from 'low' to 'normal' levels. However, some traders cautioned that the stock price could face pressure following the company's earnings report at the end of August, when Wall Street expects IREN to report a loss of $0.46 per share on revenue of $140 million.