Core Scientific to quit Bitcoin mining by year-end as AI business surges

Core Scientific said it expects to exit Bitcoin mining by the end of 2026 as it shifts its business toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure.

“We expect to complete the wind-down during the fourth quarter and enter 2027 as a pure-play, high-density colocation provider,” said Core Scientific chief financial officer Jim Nygaard during a Q3 earnings call on Thursday.

Core Scientific had previously disclosed in a July quarterly filing that hosted mining would end by Dec. 31 as it continued to wind down its self-mining operations. The comment establishes a targeted completion date for its complete Bitcoin mining exit.

Its latest quarterly results show how far the business has shifted. Third-quarter self-mining revenue fell to $12.3 million from $57.4 million a year earlier, while revenue from hosting other miners dropped to $5.2 million from $8.7 million.

Bitcoin mining generated just $17.5 million, or 7.5%, of Core Scientific’s $232.9 million in third-quarter revenue, compared with $215.4 million from colocation services.

The company had nearly 50% fewer miners online at the end of September than at the end of 2025, according to Nygaard.

Core Scientific pivot to AI

Core Scientific’s move into AI hosting took shape in 2024 after signing an initial hosting agreement with CoreWeave in March that year, followed by a much larger deal announced in June.

At the time, Core Scientific presented AI hosting as an expansion alongside its mining business. Its June 2024 announcement emphasized preserving Bitcoin mining capacity.

By December 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that Core Scientific was already targeting to wind down its Bitcoin mining operations by 2028.

Related: American Bitcoin’s $126M profit masks mining pressure as rivals turn to AI

Mining economics added pressure in the months following.

Core Scientific recorded $266.5 million in mining-related asset impairments in the first quarter of 2026, citing weaker Bitcoin prices, historically low hashprice and falling digital asset mining equipment values in the secondary market.

During the second quarter, it terminated its mining equipment agreement with Block and Proto, recording a $41.9 million loss as part of the transition.

US midterms bring scrutiny of data-center growth

The planned exit comes as the US election results introduce fresh uncertainty for companies expanding AI infrastructure.

Opponents of data-center development were among the winners of the Democrats’ sweeping midterm gains, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The backlash centers partly on electricity bills and the demands large facilities place on local resources.

Cointelegraph reached out to Core Scientific for comment.