Core Scientific, Inc. Common StockAI capex is 15 times AI revenue, indicating heavy spending with low returns.

BlocksBridge Consulting reported on August 20 that 15 listed Bitcoin miners and AI data center companies made combined capital expenditures of 30.7 billion dollars in 2026. That is more than 40 percent above the 21.53 billion dollars for all of 2025. Meanwhile, nine listed miners with available data spent 5.11 billion dollars on capital expenditures in the first half of 2026, but reported AI and high-performance computing related revenue of only 341.2 million dollars, meaning investment was about 15 times revenue. The firm notes that power contracts and available land may provide an early advantage, but converting to AI-ready facilities requires substations, buildings, cooling systems, network equipment, and in some business models GPUs. Revenue itself is expanding, with second-quarter AI and HPC revenue for the nine listed miners rising 52 percent quarter over quarter to 205.8 million dollars, with Core Scientific accounting for most of the increase.
Core Scientific, Inc. Common StockAI capex is 15 times AI revenue, indicating heavy spending with low returns.