Fermi has executed its first binding customer lease, committing 222 megawatts of capacity at Project Matador to TensorWave TEX1, LLC under a 15-year contract valued at approximately $6.5 billion in total contracted revenue, according to an announcement posted August 10, 2026.
The lease represents Fermi's entry into the hyperscale data center market after the company terminated a prior letter of intent with an unnamed tenant in March 2026. Fermi had not previously secured a binding customer agreement despite months of negotiations in the sector. The deal remains subject to completion of project guaranties and financing arrangements, meaning the lease has not yet closed.
Project Matador, Fermi's flagship facility, is designed to serve artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads. The 222 MW allocation to TensorWave represents a substantial commitment of the project's capacity. TensorWave, a provider of AI infrastructure services, had previously engaged with Fermi under the non-binding letter of intent before the two parties formalized terms into a binding agreement.
The contract generates recurring revenue over 15 years, a structure common in long-term data center leases where tenants lock in capacity and operators secure predictable cash flows. At $6.5 billion over 15 years, the deal implies annualized revenue of roughly $433 million from this single customer, though actual payments depend on whether TensorWave draws the full committed capacity.
Fermi's stock rose sharply following the announcement. The company has been building out its data center portfolio amid sustained demand for GPU-intensive infrastructure from AI model training and inference operators seeking alternatives to major cloud providers. Competitors including Lambda Labs, CoreWeave and others have similarly pursued long-term customer commitments to underpin construction and financing of new facilities.
The pending close of project guaranties and financing indicates Fermi still requires capital structures to complete Project Matador's buildout. The lease itself does not guarantee that Fermi will secure the necessary funding to construct or operate the facility at full capacity. If Project Matador fails to reach commercial operation by the timeline contemplated in the TensorWave agreement, dispute provisions in the lease would govern remedies available to the tenant.
