IREN co-founder Daniel Roberts has outlined a bold vision to turn the company into a fully vertically integrated AI infrastructure platform, covering energy supply, data centers, GPU compute, and enterprise software.

In a post on X on Friday, Roberts said the main limitation on artificial intelligence growth is no longer semiconductor chips, but the physical infrastructure required to support large-scale AI systems.

“AI demand grows exponentially. Infrastructure doesn’t,” he wrote, pointing to tightening constraints in electricity supply, land availability, cooling capacity, and data center development.

He described IREN’s strategy as a three-layer architecture: the base layer of physical infrastructure such as power and data centers, a compute layer built on NVIDIA GPUs and servers, and an application layer focused on enterprise software and operational tools.

Roberts emphasized that “Layers 1 and 2 are where the overwhelming majority of IREN’s value is being created today,” while “Layer 3 is where that advantage compounds over time.”

Formerly known as Iris Energy, IREN has expanded beyond bitcoin mining into the broader AI infrastructure sector, reflecting a growing industry trend. The company now operates across Texas, British Columbia, Oklahoma, Spain, and Australia, with around 5 gigawatts of secured grid-connected capacity globally.

Roberts added that owning the entire stack of infrastructure could create a durable competitive advantage as AI demand continues to accelerate, especially in regions such as Europe and Asia-Pacific where capacity is increasingly constrained.

The update also highlighted IREN’s strengthening partnership with NVIDIA (NVDA), including a recently announced five-year AI cloud contract worth $3.4 billion tied to Blackwell GPU deployments in Texas.

In a separate development, WhiteFiber (WYFI) announced a five-year AI compute agreement valued at over $160 million with an investment-grade technology customer in France. The deal will leverage NVIDIA GPUs and support the company’s expansion across Europe.

WhiteFiber operates AI cloud and high-performance computing services using third-party data center infrastructure, while IREN focuses on owning and operating the underlying physical assets.

Following the announcements, WYFI shares surged 22% on Thursday and added another 5% in Friday premarket trading, while IREN gained about 10% on Thursday.