Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI to combat reduced block rewards, with Core Scientific leading the way.

Bitcoin miners are turning to AI ahead of the 2024 halving to combat reduced block rewards. Core Scientific’s AI pivot saved the struggling miner, with stocks soaring since the halving. Hut 8 and other miners are also exploring AI, aiming to offset revenue losses from the halving event.

Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2022 but relisted on the Nasdaq in 2024 after shifting to an AI colocation service. Revenue fell to $79.5 million in Q1 2025 due to the operational shift and halving reward slash. Core Scientific is in talks for a takeover by CoreWeave.

Hut 8 launched a GPU-as-a-Service offering in 2024 to drive AI compute services. Despite quarterly losses, the company’s deliberate investments resulted in a 79% increase in hashrate. Hut 8 continues to expand its Bitcoin business and recently raised $220 million for mining equipment through its subsidiary, American Bitcoin.

Bitcoin miners like Iren and Hive are seeing revenue from AI alongside mining. Iren has deployed 4,300 GPUs and mined 1,514 BTC in Q3 FY25. Hive invested $30 million in GPU rollout and generated $115.3 million in revenue, with $10.1 million from AI and HPC hosting.

Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings are exploring AI and HPC workloads for a post-mining future. Riot mined 1,530 BTC in Q1 2025, generating $142.9 million in revenue. MARA unveiled an immersion cooling system for dense compute workloads and began piloting HPC test sites.

Canaan announced it is shutting down its AI chip division to focus on mining hardware. With just 2.1% of the global ASIC market, Canaan aims for long-term resilience in North America. The move distinguishes it from other players in the sector enamored with AI.

Read more at Cointelegraph: What Happened to Bitcoin Miners That Pivoted to AI?