Hut 8 Boosts AI Mining, High-Performance Computing

Hut 8 Mining is experiencing an increase in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing as it seeks to reactivate 6,400 machines being relocated from its inactive North Bay, Ontario, site.

As previously reported, Hut 8 and its third-party energy supplier, Validus Power, are engaged in an ongoing legal dispute over an alleged failure to satisfy contractual obligations.

The mining facility’s operations have been discontinued since November 2022. Hut 8 declined to comment on the court case, but it has been verified that 6,400 miners are being relocated to Texas as the company seeks to restart its inert equipment.

This specific set of miners is anticipated to be operational by the end of July 2023, bringing Hut 8’s total deployed hash rate to 3.2 exahashes per second.

A three-month agreement to house 6,400 North Bay miners has been reached, and Hut 8 intends to renew the arrangement on a month-to-month basis.

In March 2023, Hut 8 relocated 988 miners from North Bay to its facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Jaime Leverton, chief executive officer of Hut 8, also discussed the current state of the cryptocurrency mining ecosystem in light of 18 months of challenging market conditions saying:

“The industry has rebounded well over the past few months and we have seen more momentum than originally anticipated, partly due to some of our peers following our lead in the HPC and AI computing spaces.”

AI and high-performance computing continue to garner interest and investment. Microsoft and Nvidia led the $1.8 billion funding round for Palo Alto-based Inflection AI, with a portion of the funds designated for the construction of a 22,000-strong Nvidia H100 Tensor GPU cluster.

Hut 8 has also begun deploying its infrastructure to support services and solutions unrelated to Bitcoin mining.

Leverton highlighted a new five-year contract to provide computer infrastructure and hosting services to the Interior Health Authority of British Columbia, as well as a case study conducted with 3D generative AI company XYZ AI.