Applied Digital Signs $5.2B AI Data Center Lease, Hits $36B Portfolio

Applied Digital expands AI infrastructure footprint with major hyperscaler commitment

Applied Digital has signed a 15-year lease agreement for 210 megawatts of data center capacity at its Delta Forge 2 campus, a purpose-built AI infrastructure facility in an undisclosed southern U.S. state. The deal with an unnamed U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler represents approximately $5.2 billion in base-term contracted revenue, according to details first reported by the company on June 8, 2026.

The agreement marks Applied Digital's fifth AI Factory campus and its third long-term lease with the same hyperscaler client. Under a take-or-pay structure with renewal options, the contract could reach $12.7 billion over a potential 30-year term if all extensions are exercised.

With this addition, Applied Digital's contracted portfolio now spans 1.4 gigawatts of critical IT load across five campuses, representing approximately $36 billion in total base-term lease revenue—or $86 billion if all renewal options across the portfolio are exercised. The company reports that roughly 70 percent of its contracted revenue now comes from U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscalers.

Franchise model scales across geographies

Applied Digital CEO Wes Cummins described the company's approach as a "franchise model" that replicates core teams of design, construction, and operations professionals across each campus and market. "Two years ago, we made a deliberate decision to build a company that scales, not just builds data centers," Cummins said in the announcement.

The Dallas-based company, founded in 2021, has positioned itself around rapid deployment of high-density infrastructure for AI training and inference workloads. Delta Forge 2 will incorporate Applied Digital's proprietary waterless cooling technology designed for the compute densities required by large-scale AI applications. Initial operations are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2028.

Applied Digital's total contracted capacity now represents approximately 2.15 gigawatts of grid-connected utility power across its five-campus portfolio, which spans northern and southern U.S. geographies.

Why it matters

The scale of Applied Digital's contracted revenue—$36 billion in base commitments—signals sustained enterprise demand for purpose-built AI infrastructure as hyperscalers race to secure long-term compute capacity. The 15-year take-or-pay structure transfers demand risk to the customer while providing Applied Digital with predictable cash flows to finance construction and operations. For technology leaders evaluating infrastructure partners, the concentration of investment-grade hyperscaler clients and multi-campus commitments from repeat customers suggests Applied Digital has achieved operational credibility in a capital-intensive, execution-dependent market.

Cummins emphasized the company's site selection strategy, which prioritizes communities where large-scale infrastructure investment creates measurable economic impact through local employment, expanded tax base, and sustained activity over project lifecycles. "We look for communities where this kind of investment genuinely matters," he said.

Applied Digital was named Best Data Center in the Americas 2025 by Datacloud. The company has produced a documentary series titled "Behind the Build" that documents its campus construction process and community engagement approach.

Details of the lease agreement and portfolio metrics were first reported by Applied Digital in a June 8, 2026 press release.