HIVE Digital shares surge 20% on Columbia University AI research findings

Shares in HIVE Digital Technologies rose 20% following the release of positive research results concerning its graphics processing unit cluster in Paraguay. The Canadian company, which has transitioned from Bitcoin mining to artificial intelligence infrastructure, reported that the findings demonstrated performance comparable to newer systems for specific workloads.

The study was conducted by researchers at Columbia University, who trained neural networks remotely on HIVE’s Paraguay infrastructure. The research focused on improving the efficiency of large language models and benchmarking AI latency. It also evaluated high-performance computing capabilities by measuring distributed training performance.

HIVE stated that the study utilised its Nvidia A40 GPUs, which delivered results comparable to newer hardware for certain tasks. The findings have been submitted to the NeurIPS conference, one of the world’s largest gatherings for AI research, scheduled for December.

The research release coincides with significant commercial developments for the firm. Earlier in June, HIVE secured a three-year, $220 million US AI cloud contract with Bell Canada and Cohere. The company expects this agreement to add $70 million in annual recurring revenue to its balance sheet.

HIVE currently operates 300 megawatts of hydro-powered infrastructure in Paraguay, with an additional 100 megawatts under development. The firm has also outlined plans for a 320-megawatt AI gigafactory in Toronto, Canada, which it states could eventually support more than 100,000 GPUs.

HIVE stock has gained 204% over the last 12 months, trading at $5.07 US per share. The broader market context includes positive sentiment for Nvidia shares following US approval for H200 chip sales to Chinese firms, alongside a recent US-China summit in Beijing discussing trade and AI.