Bitcoin (BTC) miner and computing infrastructure firm Hut 8 announced the launch of its GPU-as-a-service program on Sept. 26.
The program, developed in partnership with AdvizeX, is aimed at artificial intelligence developers. It will give engineers access to “several” Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers powered by a cluster of 1,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. For comparison, Microsoft’s OpenAI supercomputer contained 10,000 GPUs as of 2020.
Pivot to artificial intelligence
Hut 8 was founded in 2017 as a firm primarily focused on Bitcoin mining. Shortly thereafter, it pivoted to cloud and AI services. The technology used for Bitcoin mining and AI development has some overlap, with GPUs being a primary asset for both sectors.
The Bitcoin mining sector has become increasingly challenging in the wake of the April 2024 halving. At the time, the reward for mining a Bitcoin block was reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
Bitcoin’s network hashrate and difficulty have both reached all-time highs since the halving, as Cointelegraph recently reported, with mining facilities of all sizes facing revenue squeezes.
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Hut 8’s pivot to providing AI services has apparently started paying off. According to a blog post from Hut 8, the company’s GPU-as-a-service program has already begun generating revenue with its inaugural deployment.
“The launch of our GPU-as-a-service vertical further diversifies our compute layer, which now spans AI compute, Bitcoin mining, and traditional cloud services,” Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, said in a statement. He added:
“Consistent with our commitment to disciplined capital allocation, we believe a thoughtfully structured AI compute business will be accretive both financially and strategically and drive topline growth, revenue diversification, and long-term value creation.”
GPU-as-a-service
GPUs — graphics processing units — were originally created as hardware for handling complex computer graphics. They’ve since been adapted to accelerate cryptocurrency mining and AI training.
The most popular GPUs, such as Nvidia’s H100, are often in short supply. Demand, however, has steadily increased, with some of the world’s largest companies lining up to purchase as many as they’re able to get their hands on.
GPU-as-a-service programs, such as Hut 8’s, offer an alternative for developers and startups. Those who can’t afford to build their own clusters or the energy demands of operating them can purchase access via cloud computing.
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