Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings has signed a $168 million deal to acquire a 64% stake in Exaion, a subsidiary of Électricité de France, to expand its global AI capabilities. There is an option to raise the stake to 75% by 2027 with an additional $127 million investment based on performance milestones.

Exaion partners with Nvidia and Deloitte to provide AI and cloud infrastructure for enterprise and public-sector clients. The agreement will enable Exaion to transition to larger-scale international deployment. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter pending necessary approvals.

MARA’s expansion into AI comes as Bitcoin mining difficulty rises, driving up energy consumption. MARA, the largest Bitcoin miner, has been slow to enter the AI space. In July, MARA mined 703 Bitcoin, losing to competitor IREN’s 728 Bitcoin production. Despite this, MARA’s revenue rose 64% year-on-year in Q2 to $238 million.

Read more at CoinTelegraph: Bitcoin Miner MARA Holdings Buys 64% Stake in AI And HPC Firm Exaion