CoinDesk
HIVE Digital Technologies shares climbed 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the company announced a $220 million, three-year GPU cloud contract with Bell Canada and AI firm Cohere, marking the largest commercial milestone in HIVE's pivot from pure-play bitcoin mining into sovereign AI infrastructure.
The agreement routes 2,304 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GPUs through HIVE's BUZZ High Performance Computing unit into Bell's AI Fabric facility in Merritt, British Columbia, forming the dedicated compute layer for Cohere's enterprise models serving Canadian government and corporate clients. All infrastructure stays on Canadian soil, aligning the deployment with Ottawa's push to reduce reliance on foreign-controlled AI technology.
Why it matters
The deal is the clearest commercial proof yet that HIVE's HPC pivot is gaining real revenue traction, not just narrative weight. Roughly $70 million in expected annual recurring revenue stacks against approximately $35 million of currently realised ARR, pushing HIVE's contracted HPC revenue target above $100 million. That re-rates the equity away from a mining-cycle proxy and toward a contracted AI infrastructure book, which is what institutional buyers are screening for in the sector right now.
Market impact
Deployment is staged to go live from late 2026 into early 2027, giving the revenue line a multi-quarter ramp rather than a single print. The sovereign-on-Canadian-soil framing also positions HIVE to win follow-on federal and provincial AI contracts, while the Nvidia Grace Blackwell silicon slot locks in a near-term compute supply line that smaller competitors cannot easily replicate. The 10% pre-market move suggests the market is reading this as a step-change in earnings quality, not a one-off announcement.
Frequently asked questions
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What did HIVE announce with Bell and Cohere?
HIVE Digital Technologies signed a $220 million, three-year GPU cloud contract with Bell Canada and AI firm Cohere to deploy 2,304 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GPUs at Bell's AI Fabric facility in Merritt, British Columbia.
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How much annual recurring revenue will the deal generate?
The agreement is expected to add roughly $70 million in annual recurring revenue, which combined with approximately $35 million of currently realised ARR pushes HIVE's contracted HPC revenue target above $100 million.
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When will the HIVE Bell Cohere GPU deployment go live?
The deployment is staged to go live from late 2026 into early 2027, giving the revenue line a multi-quarter ramp rather than a single quarterly print.
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Why is the deal framed as sovereign AI infrastructure?
All infrastructure remains on Canadian soil, supporting Ottawa's broader push to reduce reliance on foreign-controlled AI technology for government and corporate workloads.
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How did HIVE shares react to the announcement?
HIVE shares jumped 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the deal was announced, with the market reading the contract as a step-change in earnings quality rather than a one-off headline.
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