TL;DR · 30-second read
The Short Version
Core Scientific used to run warehouses of computers that earned bitcoin. It now rents space and electricity to artificial intelligence companies, and it is getting paid for 485 megawatts of it. That is roughly the electricity a small city uses, and about a quarter more than in June.
Its big project for one tenant, CoreWeave, which rents out artificial intelligence computing, is nearly finished. The next big jump, for chipmaker AMD and another artificial intelligence customer, is not due to start until 2027. That leaves less room for fast growth in between.
Core Scientific (Nasdaq: CORZ) is now billing customers for approximately 485 megawatts (MW) of data center capacity, the company said in a post on X reported by TheEnergyMag. The total is up about 23% from 395 MW at June 30 and about 11% from 437 MW in mid-July. The latest 48 MW came online at its Dalton, Georgia, campus.
Dalton is the main remaining construction piece of Core Scientific’s roughly 590 MW build for cloud provider CoreWeave (Nasdaq: CRWV), which is scheduled for completion in early 2027. The update did not include a revised schedule. Separately, Core Scientific holds about 530 MW of agreements signed in July with AMD and a neocloud customer. Initial deliveries under those agreements are expected in 2027, with full capacity by the end of 2028.
Executive Summary
Billing capacity is the most direct measure of Core Scientific’s shift from bitcoin mining to AI hosting. It counts contracted customer power for which service has actually started. In other words, these are megawatts that have finished construction and are now generating invoices. At about 485 MW, the figure has more than doubled from 225 MW at the end of March, and the company’s second-quarter results show the revenue following it.
The milestone also changes what matters next. Core Scientific’s total leased capacity is about 1.1 gigawatts (GW, or 1,000 MW). On the company’s own round numbers, nearly all of it falls into two programs. The first is the roughly 590 MW CoreWeave build, which is now largely energized. The second is the 530 MW AMD and neocloud program, which does not begin delivering until 2027. With the first program close to full, the open question is no longer whether these leases will energize. It is how quickly the second program converts, and how much billing can grow before it does.
Why 485 MW Sits Close to a Ceiling
The arithmetic is simple. Core Scientific has about 1.1 GW leased. Roughly 530 MW of that is the AMD and neocloud program, with initial deliveries expected in 2027. That leaves about 570 to 590 MW of contracted capacity that can begin billing before then, which is essentially the CoreWeave program. At 485 MW billing, Core Scientific has converted most of that pool. On current contracts, roughly 100 MW remains to be energized, meaning connected to power and handed to the customer, before the next program starts.
Most of that remainder sits in one place. In its July earnings presentation, Core Scientific showed about 30 MW billing at Dalton against roughly 175 MW leased to CoreWeave. If the newly added 48 MW comes on top of that figure, Dalton is now billing close to 80 MW, with something near 95 to 100 MW still to come. The other four CoreWeave campuses were already substantially complete. The two estimates agree: the remaining near-term growth is concentrated at a single Georgia campus, with completion of the overall program scheduled for early 2027.
This explains why the pace looks different. Billing grew by about 170 MW in the second quarter alone, from 225 MW to 395 MW. Since June 30 it has grown by about 90 MW. That is not a sign of trouble. It is what a construction program looks like as it winds down. Anyone extrapolating the second quarter’s growth rate through 2027 would overshoot, unless Core Scientific adds capacity from repurposed mining sites or new leases that deliver sooner. The next large step-up in billing is tied to the 2027–2028 delivery window for AMD and the neocloud customer.
Revenue Is Following the Megawatts
The financial evidence for the pivot is now in the reported numbers. Second-quarter colocation revenue rose to $136.7 million from $77.5 million in the first quarter, accounting for about 83% of total revenue of $164.2 million. Colocation means renting powered, cooled data center space to customers who install their own computing equipment. In Core Scientific’s case, that is high-density capacity built for AI servers.
Timing matters here. Capacity that starts billing partway through a quarter contributes only part of that quarter’s revenue. Core Scientific entered the third quarter with 395 MW already billing and added more during it, so the third quarter starts from a higher base than the second. The company has not disclosed per-megawatt pricing, however, so the size of that effect cannot be calculated from megawatts alone. The direction is clear. The rate of increase is the variable to watch as the CoreWeave program completes.
The 2027 Handoff Is the Real Test
The AMD and neocloud agreements, totalling roughly 530 MW, are nearly as large as the entire CoreWeave program. A neocloud is a newer cloud provider that specializes in renting AI computing rather than offering a broad menu of cloud services. Once delivered, these agreements would add two customers alongside CoreWeave and reduce Core Scientific’s reliance on a single tenant. The schedule is long, however. Initial deliveries are expected in 2027, and full capacity is not due until the end of 2028.
The risks to that conversion are the ones Core Scientific lists in its own forward-looking statements. These include completing construction of its data centers, sourcing sufficient electrical energy, and securing long-lead infrastructure components, supplies and equipment. The CoreWeave build offers the most relevant track record. Four of its five campuses are substantially complete, and the latest update neither revised nor reconfirmed the early-2027 completion date. How Dalton finishes will be the clearest available signal of how the next program is likely to run.
Power Politics Now Shapes Conversion Speed
Other former miners show the industry’s earlier stage. In an 8-K filed October 5, TeraWulf reported amended agreements with Kentucky Power that double contracted power at its Muskie Data Campus from 500 MW to 1 GW. The second 500 MW phase was moved forward to 2029, subject to Kentucky Public Service Commission approval and the utility’s construction schedule. The first phase is targeted to begin ramping in 2028. TeraWulf’s announcement cites strong “customer interest,” and its filing says it intends to upsize its revolving credit facility and seek additional senior secured debt to support letter-of-credit needs tied to its utility power partnerships. Core Scientific is at a different point. Its tenants are already contracted, and the megawatts are already invoicing.
State oversight is becoming part of every timeline. In an August 10 release, Core Scientific said it supports Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s push for transparency and accountability in data center development and welcomes the audit process. It said it has paid its own electric and infrastructure costs since it began operating in Texas in 2022. TeraWulf says Muskie will be developed under Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s executive order on data center development. For operators converting contracts into billing capacity, questions about who pays for grid upgrades and how ratepayers are protected now sit alongside construction and equipment as factors that affect speed.
Background
Core Scientific built its business as a large-scale bitcoin miner, running facilities filled with specialized computers that earn digital currency. It has since repositioned itself as a provider of high-density colocation: powered, cooled data center space designed for the heavy electrical and cooling loads of AI servers. Most of its revenue now comes from that business, and it is repurposing its remaining mining sites as circumstances allow. Its facilities span Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.
Its anchor customer is CoreWeave, a cloud provider that rents AI computing capacity, for which Core Scientific is building about 590 MW across five campuses. In July it added roughly 530 MW of agreements with AMD and a neocloud customer, bringing total leased capacity to about 1.1 GW. Other former bitcoin miners, including TeraWulf, are pursuing similar conversions. They face growing state attention to how data center power costs are allocated, in Texas, Kentucky and elsewhere. Source: Core Scientific’s Billing AI Data Center Capacity Rises to 485 MW (TheEnergyMag): Core Scientific reports about 485 MW of billing data center capacity after a 48 MW addition at Dalton, Georgia. Primary sources: Core Scientific Supports Governor Abbott’s Focus on Responsible Data Center Infrastructure in Texas (Core Scientific, August 10, 2026); TeraWulf Form 8-K filed October 5, 2026 (SEC EDGAR); TeraWulf Expands Contracted Power Capacity at its Muskie Data Campus to 1 GW (TeraWulf, Exhibit 99.1, October 5, 2026).Sources