Former bitcoin miner plans to build an easier cloudy AI on ramp while remaining a friend to FOSS
Neocloud IREN has decided to buy Mirantis, and the two plan to build an open AI stack.
Mirantis made its name developing open source cloud infrastructure, such as its OpenStack distribution, hyperconverged appliances, and Kubernetes tools. In 2025, the company introduced the k0rdent AI platform, a tool for automating deployment of AI infrastructure.
Formed in 2018, IREN started life as Iris Energy. As its 2021 prospectus explains, the company went looking for sources of cheap energy, built or acquired datacenters in the vicinity, then started mining bitcoin.
In 2023, the company decided to get into the generative AI business and started buying Nvidia GPUs. A rebrand followed and saw Iris Energy name itself after its NASDAQ ticker “IREN.”
IREN initially built facilities in the Canadian province of British Columbia, then branched out to build bit barns in Texas and Oklahoma. The company now operates six datacenters, says it offers 810 megawatts of compute capacity, has 2,100 MW under construction, 1,600 MW in development, and has secure agreements to tap more than 4.5 GW worth of juice.
Microsoft likes IREN’s plans so much it signed up for $9.7 billion worth of GPU access over five years.
The datacenter operator’s announcement of the acquisition says Mirantis will continue to operate as an independent business, but will also support IREN’s cloud deployments.
“The acquisition of Mirantis builds on IREN’s existing software, engineering and customer support capabilities, enhancing how compute is deployed, managed and operated for customers,” the announcement states. “As deployments grow, ensuring reliable provisioning, monitoring and support becomes increasingly important. Mirantis strengthens these capabilities with deep experience in cloud infrastructure and enterprise operations.”
Mirantis CEO Alex Freedland pitched the acquisition as a boost for his company’s mission to create an open AI stack.
“AI is reshaping what enterprise and provider infrastructure needs to do — and the market needs an open standard for AI infrastructure that can manage that complexity at scale, across hardware, across providers, and across enterprise environments,” he wrote.
Mirantis CTO Shaun O’Meara also weighed in on the deal with an assurance that the company will continue to offer its products as FOSS and participate in open processes, plus an argument that becoming part of IREN will improve its offerings.
“Greater investment behind us means more engineering capacity, faster iteration, and deeper community engagement – not a pivot away from the model that has defined Mirantis from the start,” he wrote.
IREN’s announcement doesn’t mention extra investment for Mirantis.
It’s unclear if IREN will require customers to use Mirantis’ wares. The Register can’t imagine Microsoft would agree to that. The deal does, however, mean k0rdent AI users will have a Neocloud that runs the way they like.
It’s not unusual for a cloud provider to acquire a software stack provider. Industry observer Keith Townsend last week contemplated the combination and noted that Rackspace and Equinix tried it, as did others, but all failed.
“Every one of them retreated to what the market actually trusted them for – facilities, power, and cooling,” he wrote.
“The only thing Neoclouds have is capacity arbitrage on a timing gap. And that window closes when hyperscaler GPU supply catches up. The endgame writes itself: Neoclouds become GPU-dense colo capacity underneath someone else’s platform. Their long-term value is power contracts and cooling infrastructure. Not software. Not platform. Not relationships.”
And IREN is already at Townsend’s endgame with its Microsoft deal. ®