Applied Digital Signs 430MW Lease with Hyperscaler, Spins Out Cloud Business
May 28, 2026
Applied Digital Signs 430MW Lease with Hyperscaler, Spins Out Cloud Business
Applied Digital, a Nasdaq-listed data center developer, has signed a pre-lease agreement for a massive new 430MW AI campus in the United States, while simultaneously completing the spin-out of its cloud computing unit. The dual moves underscore the company’s strategy to scale its infrastructure business while separating shorter-cycle cloud operations.
The agreement covers the entire capacity of Polaris Forge 3, Applied’s fourth AI-focused campus, located on a 600-acre site in an unnamed northern state. The campus is designed to deliver 300MW of critical IT load, supported by approximately 430MW of grid-connected utility power. The tenant, a US-based high-investment-grade hyperscaler, is the same customer that previously committed to capacity at Applied’s earlier Delta Forge 1 campus.
The 15-year take-or-pay leases are valued at roughly $7.5 billion in base-term contracted revenue, with the potential to reach $18.2 billion if all options are exercised. “Polaris Forge 3 is a direct extension of what we’ve proven works: a disciplined, repeatable AI Factory model that delivers large-scale capacity to the world’s most demanding compute customers,” said Applied Digital CEO Wes Cummins. He added that the repeat lease with the same hyperscaler “reflects the confidence we’ve built through disciplined execution and our ability to consistently advance large-scale AI infrastructure projects.” Initial operations at the site are expected to begin in August 2027, with the facility utilizing liquid cooling and Applied’s waterless design.
In a separate but concurrent development, Applied Digital completed the spin-off of its cloud business. The company contributed the unit to Nasdaq-listed EKSO Bionics Holdings, which has since been renamed ChronoScale Corporation. Applied Digital now owns approximately 97 percent of ChronoScale’s outstanding common stock. Cummins explained that the separation allows each business to be “capitalized and scaled appropriately,” noting that the data center hosting platform relies on long-duration contracts and predictable returns, while the cloud layer operates on shorter cycles with a different risk profile. ChronoScale has appointed Cenly Chen, former chief growth officer at SuperMicro, as its CEO.
Beyond the lease and spin-out, Applied Digital also closed a $300 million senior secured bridge facility led by Goldman Sachs. The company, founded in 2021 as Applied Blockchain, continues to operate two cryptomine sites in Jamestown and Ellendale, North Dakota, totaling approximately 286MW. Its other hyperscale campuses include Polaris Forge 1 and 2 in North Dakota—one leased to CoreWeave, the other to an unnamed investment-grade hyperscaler—and the 430MW Delta Forge 1 site in Louisiana, where construction has begun and operations are slated for mid-2027.
The industry implications are significant: Applied Digital’s ability to secure a second 300MW lease with the same top-tier hyperscaler signals growing demand for large-scale, purpose-built AI infrastructure. The spin-out of the cloud unit also reflects a broader trend among data center operators to separate capital-intensive infrastructure from more variable compute services, potentially unlocking more focused investment and operational efficiency for each segment.
Source: datacenterdynamics
