Applied Digital has entered a significant lease agreement with a U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler for its Polaris Forge 2 campus, under construction near Harwood, North Dakota. The agreement, worth approximately $5 billion over 15 years, secures 200 megawatts (MW) of dedicated IT load for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
The hyperscaler also has the first right of refusal for an additional 800 MW, allowing for potential expansion of the full 1-gigawatt (GW) Polaris Forge 2 campus.
With this lease, Applied Digital now has a combined total of 600 MW contracted across its two North Dakota campuses, Polaris Forge 1 and 2, serving two of the world’s largest hyperscalers. This announcement highlights Applied Digital’s rapid growth as a leading developer of AI infrastructure in the U.S., driven by the increasing demand for hyperscale cloud and AI.
“What sets us apart isn’t just the size of our pipeline – it’s how fast we can deliver,” said Wes Cummins, Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital. “Execution is the real constraint in this industry, and our team continues to show that large-scale, next-generation data centers can be designed, financed, and built faster and more efficiently than anyone thought possible. Polaris Forge 2 represents that same momentum, and it underscores both our partnerships and our role in reshaping the AI infrastructure landscape.”
The 900-acre Polaris Forge 2 campus is designed for high efficiency and sustainability, targeting a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.18 and near-zero water consumption. Its first two buildings, totaling 200 MW, are expected to come online in 2026, with full deployment in 2027. The design includes liquid cooling systems and other high-density power features, enabling the campus to meet the compute demands of AI and HPC workloads while minimizing environmental impact.
Applied Digital’s Development Model
The agreement is another milestone in a year of record expansion for Applied Digital. Earlier in 2025, the company announced a 150 MW lease with CoreWeave at its Polaris Forge 1 facility, a $5 billion AI infrastructure partnership with Macquarie Asset Management, and received several awards for innovation and community impact. The company was recently ranked first on the Dallas Business Journal’s “Fast 50” list, reflecting its rapid growth and emerging leadership in digital infrastructure.
Applied Digital’s development model, described internally as “Different by Design,” emphasizes speed, sustainability, and regional optimization. Its facilities are strategically built in the U.S. heartland, leveraging affordable energy, favorable climate conditions, and scalable land resources to support AI infrastructure expansion.
“Our AI factories are redefining how and where hyperscale infrastructure gets built,” added Wes Cummins. “We’re proving that the next chapter of AI computing can be powered from the heartland – built responsibly, delivered quickly, and designed for the intelligence era.”
