HIVE Digital Technologies highlights early AI factory development with massive Toronto gigafactory plans

HIVE Digital Technologies started assembling GPU clusters before most of the tech industry had even coined the phrase “AI factory.” That head start is now the foundation of a pivot so dramatic it makes the company’s origins in crypto mining look like a warm-up act.

Through its subsidiary BUZZ HPC, HIVE announced plans on May 18 for a 320 MW AI gigafactory in the Greater Toronto Area, with a projected capital investment of CAD $3.5 billion. The facility aims to support more than 100,000 GPUs and is targeting initial operations in the second half of 2027.

From mining rigs to AI infrastructure

Currently, BUZZ has 5,500 GPUs online for AI compute workloads. The company’s project pipeline is designed to eventually support around 130,000 GPUs, meaning the Toronto gigafactory alone would account for the vast majority of that planned capacity.

In March 2026, HIVE announced a collaboration with Dell Technologies for NVIDIA Blackwell GPU clusters, expanding its infrastructure footprint in Eastern Canada. BUZZ is also an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, which gives it access to NVIDIA’s ecosystem of enterprise AI customers and software tools.

Revenue growth tells the real story

On June 2, HIVE reported total revenue for fiscal year 2026 of $297.8 million, a 158% increase year-over-year.

The sovereignty angle and renewable energy play

HIVE’s leadership has been vocal about Canadian sovereignty in AI, framing the gigafactory and its broader infrastructure buildout as critical for establishing self-sufficient AI capabilities within the country.

HIVE operates data centers in Canada, Sweden, and Paraguay, all powered by renewable energy sources. The company’s facilities are designed to achieve Power Usage Effectiveness ratings below 1.3. The industry average hovers around 1.5 to 1.6 for traditional facilities, so sub-1.3 is genuinely competitive.

What this means for investors

The CAD $3.5 billion capital outlay for the Toronto gigafactory will require careful financing, whether through equity raises, debt, partnerships, or some combination. Being an NVIDIA Cloud Partner means HIVE isn’t just buying GPUs — it’s integrated into the distribution pipeline for enterprise AI workloads.

The competitive landscape includes former crypto miners like Core Scientific and Bit Digital, which have made similar pivots, alongside traditional cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. HIVE’s differentiation comes from its focus on sovereign AI workloads, its renewable energy positioning, and its dedicated GPU-dense facilities.