What Happened to Bitcoin Miners That Pivoted to AI?

Bitcoin miners turned to the rising AI trend ahead of the 2024 halving, which cut block rewards to 3.125 Bitcoin (BTC).

Some just dipped their toes in, while others dove deeper, repurposing rigs, raising credit and signing billion-dollar deals.

But how’s that spinoff working out in reality? In some instances, the move has been a lifeline that generates much-needed revenue as their Bitcoin earnings dropped. For others, it’s more of a safety net that can cushion future halving shocks.

Here’s a look at what’s happened to the biggest crypto mining firms since their AI pivot.

AI pivot saved this Bitcoin miner

Core Scientific is among the biggest revival stories for Bitcoin miners whose AI pivot saved its struggling business.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2022. It emerged in early 2024 to relist on the Nasdaq, then shifted from a pure Bitcoin miner to a colocation service provider by leasing out data centers to AI firms. It signed a 12-year, $3.5-billion deal with CoreWeave in June 2024 to host CoreWeave’s high-performance computing (HPC) operations.

Core Scientific reported its Q1 revenue fell to $79.5 million, down from $179.3 million a year earlier. It cited the Bitcoin halving reward slash and the operational shift to HPC hosting as the primary reasons for the revenue drop. A surge in Bitcoin’s price since the halving has offset some of the losses.

Related: Bitcoin Knots gain ground: Will a chain split kill BTC price?

In late June 2025, CoreWeave resumed talks to acquire Core Scientific, following a failed $1-billion buyout attempt in 2024. News of the renewed negotiations sent Core Scientific’s stock soaring.

AI remains a side hustle for most Bitcoin miners

Hut 8’s AI ambitions took real shape in September 2024, when the company formally launched its GPU-as-a-Service offering through a new subsidiary, Highrise AI. 

The pivot saw Hut 8 deploy over 1,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs — specialized chips widely used for training and running AI models — to drive its cloud-based AI compute services. The launch came with a five-year fixed-payment and revenue-share deal as revenues for Bitcoin miners tightened following the April 2024 halving event.

By Q1 2025, the company’s Bitcoin mining had produced 167 BTC, down from 716 BTC the year…