Stablecoin giant Tether has announced a strategic investment in German-listed Bitcoin miner Northern Data Group (ETR: NB2), which the former says will be “the biggest independent AI Player in Europe.”

The investment follows previous attempts from Tether to expand beyond fintech, and continues a growing trend of crypto firms diversifying into artificial intelligence.

Tether’s Big AI Play

Per Tether’s statement on Thursday, the company said that Northern Data’s commitment to “resilient data storage and high-performance computing” aligns with the stablecoin issuer’s “forward-looking” goals. Its initiatives with the firm will leverage several technologies including AI, and peer-to-peer communication, among other things.

“We are excited about this investment into Northern Data Group as it represents a fresh venture into new technological frontiers,” said Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s Chief Technology Officer, in a statement. “This investment underscores our commitment to responsible growth and innovation while preserving the strength and integrity of Tether tokens’s reserves.”

Prior to Tether’s official statement, Forbes reported that Tether had invested $420 million in 10,000 of Nvidia’s H100 cloud GPUs through an Irish shell company, Damoon. It also claimed Tether had acquired a 20% stake in Northern Data as part of the deal.

Tether referenced no exact figure for its GPU purchase, but did state that it’s investment in Northern Data was made “through Damoon. “

“A media report from Forbes contained inaccuracies regarding Tether’s stake size in this investment,” the company added.

The company emphasized that its investments “do not impact Tether’s reserves or customer funds”, which were most recently reported to contain over $86