IREN Limited shares rose approximately 6% in pre-market trading on July 6, 2026. This gain follows a report from The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column. The report identifies IREN as a finalist for AI startup Anthropic’s data center expansion in Australia.
The project carries an estimated value between $12 billion and $15 billion. Anthropic requires a minimum capacity of 1.4 gigawatts. Other shortlisted bidders reportedly include CDC Data Centres, AirTrunk, NextDC, and Stack Infrastructure.
Anthropic targets at least 1 gigawatt of operational capacity by the end of 2027. The AI firm may divide the contract among multiple providers. This development serves as a catalyst for IREN following a recent downward trend in its stock price.