Microsoft's Deal with Iren Nets Millions for AI Cloud Firm's Co-Founders
Australian Financial Review
SKIPPED
Details
- Date Published
- 3 Nov 2025
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 4 Nov 2025, 04:28 pm
Description
Daniel Roberts, a former Macquarie banker who runs the Nasdaq-listed data centres business, says the agreement is only the first of many as demand booms.
Summary
Microsoft has signed a significant $15 billion deal with Iren, a Nasdaq-listed AI cloud computing company led by Australian co-founders Daniel and Will Roberts. This agreement highlights the rapid growth and importance of AI-driven cloud infrastructure in the global tech landscape. While the article emphasizes commercial advancements rather than safety or governance, such large-scale partnerships indicate a substantial move in the AI cloud computing industry. However, it lacks a direct focus on AI safety or existential risk considerations, making its contribution to AI safety discourse minimal.
Body
TechnologyAIPrint articlePaul SmithTechnology editorNov 4, 2025 – 11.03amSaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginAlmost exactly three years ago, Daniel Roberts was urging investors in his bitcoin mining business not to sell out. The company, Iris Energy, was being chased by creditors. Shares had fallen 95 per cent as the pandemic-era glow around cryptocurrencies had all but dissipated.As it turns out, crypto is back in vogue. But not as in as artificial intelligence. And Iris is now Iren, a Nasdaq-listed company where Roberts remains chief executive. On Tuesday, it signed a $15 billion deal to sell computing power to Microsoft, pushing its market capitalisation well over $27 billion.Loading...Paul Smithedits the technology coverage and has been a leading writer on the sector for 20 years. He covers big tech, business use of tech, the fast-growing Australian tech industry and start-ups, telecommunications and national innovation policy.Connect withPaulonTwitter.EmailPaulatpsmith@afr.comSaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginLicense articleFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreAICloudMicrosoftInfrastructureNvidiaOpenAIBitcoinData centresYoung RichFetching latest articlesWe met a professional shoplifter to understand this crime’s popularityGreg Bearup and Carrie LaFrenzShaken, stirred and a little smoky: three cocktails to define summerThis restaurant is stuck in the past. That’s what makes it greatThe $1m nap: What truly separates great CEOs from the 5am clubHannah TattersallThe real key to a promotion (and it’s not working harder)Why the boss of this $21b company has a two-part career ruleSupercharge your next dinner party with these expert hosting tipsEugenie KellyThe Gen Z-approved jewellery brand with a $15m hitHow New Zealand became an unlikely luxury marketBillionaire Brett Blundy pushes for Victoria’s Secret board seat37 mins agoCarrie LaFrenzInside a Young Rich Lister’s million-dollar home wellness spaceWin a family affair for rich scion, corporate legend and star jockey