At MARA, we have long believed that those who control the energy will shape the future of the digital economy. We have spent the last few years aggressively securing that advantage, scaling our global capacity portfolio to nearly two gigawatts and transitioning to a vertically integrated model where we own and operate power infrastructure.

But as AI adoption accelerates across critical sectors, we recognize that securing the energy is only the first step. For organizations to thrive, the environments that process that power must also be resilient. And for regions like Europe, which is home to some of the world's largest and most decarbonized electricity systems, the opportunity is clear: that advantage can become the foundation for the next generation of computing infrastructure. Last week, we took a decisive step toward making that a reality.

We are proud to announce the closing of our acquisition of a 64% stake in Exaion, a subsidiary of EDF. This acquisition expands our expertise to help power the next era of AI: inference. It also marks the beginning of MARA's long-term commitment to building private, enterprise-grade computing infrastructure in France and across Europe.

Meet Exaion: Private Compute for Enterprises & the Public Sector

As AI workloads shift from training to inference – where models are deployed in production to make real-time decisions – the infrastructure requirements also shift. It is no longer just about raw compute. It is about security, privacy, and proximity. We believe Exaion is designed to meet these needs.

Born within the energy giant EDF, Exaion addresses a central dilemma of the AI era: enterprises face a critical choice between leveraging AI at the expense of their proprietary data or maintaining security at the expense of growth.

Exaion aims to eliminate this trade-off by providing secure environments where organizations can deploy high-performance models while keeping data and workloads under their control. For institutions that cannot afford to expose critical data, IP, or operational systems to shared public environments, this is becoming a strategic requirement. 

Today, Exaion operates four data centers in France and Canada, with classifications ranging from Tier I to Tier IV. The company also operates a quantum computer and has built strong customer relationships across Europe and Canada.

The case for localized infrastructure extends beyond security. Running inference close to where data is generated reduces latency and enables real-time decision-making. Localized models can also be tuned to regional regulations, languages, and operational realities, delivering higher contextual value than global counterparts.

Exaion is already serving this demand. Its full-stack managed AI platform is built on flexible, open-source standards designed to minimize vendor lock-in. By combining that architectural control with MARA's energy assets and operational expertise, we aim to offer a secure, high-fidelity alternative to purely hyperscale-centric approaches for mission-critical workloads.

A Partnership Built for Europe

Among Exaion’s board members will be Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of MARA, and Xavier Niel, one of Europe's most respected technology entrepreneurs, whose Investment firm NJJ Capital has invested in MARA France as part of this transaction. His involvement is a meaningful signal that this is a partnership with genuine roots and credibility within European technology and business, structured from the ground up to serve European enterprises. The EDF Group also remains a minority shareholder and a customer of Exaion.

We believe Europe is the next frontier for computing infrastructure, and France is where MARA has chosen to plant its flag, establishing its regional headquarters in Paris in August 2025.

The reasons are structural. France is home to some of the world's largest power utilities, operates the second-largest nuclear fleet by capacity on the planet, and is rapidly scaling renewable generation. It is a country with genuine electricity abundance and a deep commitment to digital independence through initiatives like France 2030 and the European Digital Decade.

Exaion is the first building block of our multi-year expansion across AI computing, inference, and secure cloud, but the ambition is broader. We are actively seeking and building energy partnerships across multiple providers and geographies, reflecting our conviction that the companies that will define the next era of AI infrastructure are those that build directly with energy providers, not around them.

A Note on Bitcoin

We know some will ask how Bitcoin mining fits into this picture. The answer is straightforward: Exaion is not a Bitcoin mining platform. Its mission, its governance, and its infrastructure are oriented toward high-performance computing, AI inference, and secure cloud services.

Within MARA more broadly, Bitcoin mining remains a key part of our strategy, but as one application among many. The real innovation in the model we are building is flexibility: the ability to dynamically allocate computing capacity across workloads and return energy to the grid when needed.

Converting Energy into Autonomy

Looking ahead, our infrastructure strategy is designed to meet the market where it is. That means deploying the right type of facility for the right workload, whether that is distributed modular sites or larger-scale campuses for customers who need them. Exaion's expertise strengthens our ability to do both, enabling us to capture value at the inference layer across a range of deployment models.

MARA also brings deep expertise in designing facilities that work with the grid, not against it. Our infrastructure can absorb excess electricity, scale down rapidly during periods of stress, and contribute to overall grid stability. For regions with electricity abundance and ambitions for digital independence, this kind of flexible infrastructure is an asset.

In the coming decade, we believe global competitiveness will be defined by how efficiently a company can convert energy into value and intelligence. Exaion is how we intend to help organizations do exactly that, with secure, high-performance infrastructure backed by the energy expertise to power it at scale.

This is just the beginning.

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For more details, view the full press release.

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