Wes Cummins, Founder & CEO of Applied Digital: Ellendale’s Purpose Built AI Factory in North Dakota

Corporate Positioning & Scope

• Applied Digital describes itself as a leader in "next generation digital infrastructure," specializing in full-stack design, construction, and operation of high-power density data centers.
• The company primarily serves hyperscalers and large-scale AI customers, transitioning from its 2021 origins in hyperscale Bitcoin mining data centers.
• Core differentiators from Bitcoin operations include the requirement for "firm power" (24/7/365 uptime) versus interruptible power, robust fiber connectivity with diverse paths, and extreme cooling/redundancy standards.
• The company abandoned early 2022 attempts to retrofit Bitcoin facilities for AI, concluding that AI "factories" require distinct Tier 3 builds with extreme high power density rather than stripped-down mining infrastructure.

CoreWeave Contract & North Dakota Campus

• Applied Digital announced a significant contract with CoreWeave to build a facility in North Dakota with a total critical IT load of 400 megawatts.
  • First Phase: 100 megawatts scheduled to come online in October or November of this year.
  • Second Phase: 150 megawatts scheduled for June of next year.
  • Future Capacity: A third building is planned for an additional 150 megawatts, bringing the site to 400 MW of critical IT load.
• The site requires approximately 530 megawatts of total utility power to account for mechanical and cooling overhead, resulting in a 400 MW IT load.
• Facilities are designed for "five nines" (99.999%) redundancy, capable of running at 100% capacity on the hottest day of the year in North Dakota.

Power Strategy & Location Selection

• The company's primary strategy involves utilizing "stranded power"—electricity generated by wind farms that cannot currently be transported to end-users due to grid capacity limitations.
• North Dakota, the sixth-largest wind-producing state, is a key location where power generation exceeds transport capacity, allowing Applied Digital to locate facilities directly at substations (e.g., 2 gigawatts of wind feed).
• The firm spent five years hunting for these locations, noting a "land rush" similar to the Bitcoin migration but currently facing a shortage of available sites as hyperscalers compete for power.
• Applications for other projects are concentrated in the U.S. heartland from the Dakotas to the Gulf Coast, with initial interest in Europe and South America.

Infrastructure & Community Impact

• Infrastructure design has shifted from "chicken coop" style mining builds (open louvers, uncontrolled humidity, single-row airflow) to semiconductor clean-room standards with tight temperature and air quality controls to protect expensive GPUs.
• The company invested $5 billion in the North Dakota campus alone, excluding the cost of GPU hardware.
• The firm reports lowering regional electricity costs for consumers by utilizing unused power capacity and spreading grid maintenance costs over more megawatts.
• To mitigate community complaints regarding high-frequency cooling noise, the company prioritizes siting facilities miles away from residential areas, which is more feasible in North Dakota than in dense markets like Northern Virginia.

Forward-Looking Statements & Future Technologies

• Near-to-medium term focus (1–5 years) remains on existing renewable assets, new renewable assets, and gas assets.
• Nuclear power, including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), is identified as a long-term solution beyond the current planning horizon.
• Battery storage is viewed as promising for grid balancing during periods of over-generation, though currently deemed not economically feasible for this specific application.
• The company anticipates a lag of 1–3 years for European data center development compared to the U.S., with a specific projected demand for high-density infrastructure to support AI inference in the region.
• NVIDIA holds a stake of approximately 3% in the company.