City Leaders Chose the Projects After July Storm Damage Cut Residents' Water; Barber Lake Data Center Draws No Water from the City's System

COLORADO CITY, Texas, Sept. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cipher Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:CIFR), a leading developer and operator of industrial-scale data centers, Fluidstack Ltd., an American builder of AI infrastructure, and Anthropic, the AI research and development company behind Claude, today committed a combined $10 million in repairs and upgrades to Colorado City's water system. The contribution will fund upgrades identified by Colorado City leaders to increase the availability and resilience of the city's water system following this summer's shortages. The companies will manage the funds in partnership with Colorado City leaders through the formation of the Colorado City Water Infrastructure Foundation, a newly established nonprofit organization funded exclusively by the companies to serve Colorado City.

Colorado City has faced chronic water outages due to aging infrastructure and severe weather. In July, storm damage at the city's well pump station left residents without reliable water for days. Cipher Digital, Fluidstack, and Anthropic are stepping forward to help their new neighbors address this issue.

The Foundation will work in coordination with the Colorado City Council under the leadership of Mayor Ruben Hurt, working closely with City Manager Donna Madrid and the City's contracted engineers. The City identified a slate of water infrastructure projects, including additional water storage capacity, replacing aging valves, and other water infrastructure needs that the companies have agreed to fund. The Barber Lake data center runs on its own on-site water supply and draws nothing from Colorado City's system, so every gallon of capacity these projects add goes to the city.

"As Texas continues to grow, it is important that the companies helping drive that growth are also good neighbors and partners in our communities," said Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows. "This donation for Colorado City's water infrastructure will strengthen the region's water future while demonstrating a commitment to the Texans who call this community home. I want to thank the companies for their generosity and for investing in the long-term future of Colorado City and West Texas."

"When we welcomed these companies to our community, they told us they would be good neighbors," said Colorado City Mayor Ruben Hurt. "This $10 million contribution for critical repairs to our local water system demonstrates they meant every word."

"Being a good neighbor means showing up for the issues that matter most to the communities where we operate, even when those issues predate us," said Tyler Page, Cipher's Chief Executive Officer. "In Colorado City, we wanted to invest directly in solutions that will benefit the community for years to come. We're grateful to Speaker Burrows and local leaders for their partnership, and proud that Colorado City is home to one of our data centers."

"Everywhere Fluidstack operates, we try to listen first and understand what the community actually needs," said Kate Franko, Public Affairs Lead for Fluidstack. "This summer, our neighbors here had a problem. We asked if we could help, and we're glad the answer was yes."

"Communities that host AI infrastructure should be better off for it. Colorado City's leaders identified what their water system needs, and we're glad to help fund it,” said Ryan Wilson, Head of Economic Development for Anthropic.

Cipher built Barber Lake to meet the data center standards in Governor Greg Abbott's directives to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT. The facility’s use of water will have no impact on local drinking water sources or residential utility bills.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding the Foundation’s planned activities and projects, the administration and deployment of committed funds, coordination with Colorado City and other stakeholders, anticipated community benefits, and Cipher’s business objectives. Actual results may differ materially due to changes in project selection or scope; required approvals; coordination with the City, engineers and other stakeholders; engineering, permitting, procurement, construction, cost or timing constraints; and whether completed projects achieve their anticipated benefits. Additional risks are described in the “Risk Factors” sections of Cipher’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, and subsequent SEC filings. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and Cipher undertakes no obligation to update them except as required by law.

About Cipher
Cipher develops and operates industrial-scale data centers engineered for next-generation computing at the highest standards of innovation, precision, and excellence. The Company brings together deep expertise across power sourcing, construction, engineering, operations, real estate, and technology to deliver high-quality data centers purpose built for HPC workloads. By partnering with premier tenants, Cipher seeks to meet the growing demand for industrial-scale data center capacity and become a leading HPC development platform that is built for hyperscale. To learn more about Cipher, please visit cipherdigital.com.

About Fluidstack
Fluidstack is an American builder of AI infrastructure, deploying scaled compute at speed for leading AI labs, governments, and enterprises. From its growing base in Texas, Fluidstack builds with a commitment to transparency, local partnership, and environmental accountability. Learn more at fluidstack.io. 

About Anthropic
Anthropic is an AI research and development company that creates reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Anthropic’s flagship product is Claude, a large language model trusted by millions of users worldwide. Learn more about Anthropic and Claude at anthropic.com.

Cipher Contact:
Ryan Dicovitsky
Dukas Linden Public Relations
CipherDigital@DLPR.com

Fluidstack Contact:
Katie LePage
The Monument Group
katie@themonumentgroup.com

Anthropic Contact:
press@anthropic.com