Jacobs Solutions announced a new Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) partnership with Hut 8 Corp. and Fluidstack for a 15‑year, $7 billion lease that will deliver 245 MW of AI‑optimized IT capacity at the River Bend data‑center campus in Louisiana. The agreement also grants Jacobs a right‑of‑first‑offer for up to an additional 1,000 MW of capacity, subject to power availability and expansion timelines.
Under the EPCM arrangement, Jacobs will lead the design, engineering, procurement, and construction oversight of the data‑center facilities, ensuring that the infrastructure meets the stringent power density, cooling efficiency, and security standards required for AI workloads. Jacobs’ prior experience includes large‑scale data‑center projects for cloud providers and its recent partnership with NVIDIA to develop digital‑twins for AI factories, positioning the firm as a trusted advisor for high‑margin, technology‑enabled infrastructure.
Fluidstack will operate the AI compute infrastructure within the leased space, managing the deployment of GPU clusters, software stacks, and tenant services. Hut 8, while primarily a leaseholder, will contribute a direct capital investment that underpins the project’s construction and operational readiness, complementing the lease payments and aligning its financial commitment with the long‑term revenue stream.
The right‑of‑first‑offer for additional capacity is structured to trigger when Hut 8 identifies a need for expansion and when sufficient power and site resources are available. The clause allows Jacobs to secure up to 1,000 MW of additional capacity over the life of the lease, providing a scalable path for future AI demand growth.
The deal signals a decisive shift for Hut 8 from Bitcoin mining to AI hosting, a transition that has already attracted a $7 billion commitment and a financial backstop from Google. The partnership underscores the rapid expansion of the AI data‑center market, with Louisiana’s River Bend campus poised to become one of the largest AI infrastructure hubs in the United States.
Jacobs CEO Bob Pragada highlighted the contract as a “transformational” milestone that reinforces the company’s focus on high‑margin, technology‑enabled projects. Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot described the partnership as validation of its “power‑first, innovation‑driven development model,” emphasizing the strategic alignment with world‑class counterparties.
Investors responded positively to the announcement, reflecting confidence in Jacobs’ growing AI data‑center portfolio and Hut 8’s successful pivot to AI hosting. The deal also reinforces the broader market trend toward dedicated AI infrastructure, supported by Google’s financial backing and the increasing demand for high‑performance computing resources.
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