Fermi America said on 13 October 2026 that it has signed a credit support agreement with AMD supporting a lease for phase one of Project Matador, its energy and AI campus in Carson County, Texas, with 222 megawatts (MW) of gross power capacity.
Fermi calls the agreement a key milestone toward securing project financing. The two companies also signed an agreement setting out a partnership and a framework for future expansion of up to 650 MW, according to the release.
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The key insight: As we read it, AMD is putting its credit behind the building, not just selling the chips that go in it: Fermi says AMD’s agreement supports a 222 MW phase-one lease, and Fermi’s own filing shows the first lease there is worth about $6.5 billion over 15 years, with project-level financing among its closing conditions.
The release says the 222 MW is in line with Fermi’s first customer lease, announced on 10 August 2026. Its risk section names two conditions: those attached to AMD’s obligations under the agreement, and the closing of the TensorWave lease.
The release does not give the amount, length or price of AMD’s credit support.
Fermi chief executive Lee McIntire says: “Our strategic partnership establishes a framework for phases two and three.” He adds: “We have the land, the permits, the water, the power equipment, and the fiber network that give us distinct performance advantages.”
Terms from Fermi’s 13 October 2026 release: AMD signed a credit support agreement for a 222 MW phase-one lease at Project Matador, plus a framework for up to 650 MW of future expansion. The ~$6.5 billion, 15-year figure for Fermi’s first customer lease is from its Q2 2026 10-Q.
The Lease Behind It
Fermi’s quarterly report for the period to 30 June 2026, filed in August, sets out the TensorWave lease. A Fermi subsidiary signed it on 9 August with a TensorWave subsidiary, for a build-to-suit data center supported by 222 MW of total facility power.
The filing says the lease runs for an initial 15 years, with two five-year renewal options, and is expected to generate about $6.5 billion in total contracted revenue over that initial term. TensorWave also holds an option on two more buildings that would take its total to 650 MW.
The lease’s closing conditions, the filing says, include board approvals and Fermi’s subsidiary obtaining project-level financing. It gives an expected closing on or before 30 September 2026, subject to extension, and says either party may terminate if the conditions are not met.
Why the Chipmaker Is Involved
TensorWave describes itself as a provider of AMD-powered AI infrastructure. Its May 2025 release says AMD Ventures co-led its $100 million Series A with Magnetar.
AMD’s Mathew Hein, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of corporate development, says in Fermi’s release: “Together, we are enabling customers to deploy AMD-powered AI infrastructure at scale and supporting our continued data center momentum.”
Fermi’s 10-Q shows cash and cash equivalents of $62.5 million at 30 June 2026, down from $408.5 million at 31 December 2025. The line the 10-Q labels “Debt, net” rose to $520.1 million from $109.8 million over the same period.
The release says more than $1.5 billion has been invested in the Project Matador buildout to date. Subject to binding customer agreements, it expects the site to ramp to about 17 gigawatts, with capital deployment matched to commercial commitments.
The Structural Read
As we read it, the credit support is aimed at the step the 10-Q names as a closing condition: Fermi’s subsidiary obtaining project-level financing, which Fermi’s release says the agreement moves it toward.
As we read it, the tenant and the backer point the same way: TensorWave describes itself as AMD-powered and counts AMD Ventures as a lead investor, and AMD’s Mathew Hein frames the deal as deploying AMD-powered AI infrastructure at scale.
As we read it, the 650 MW figure appears twice in the documents: as the ceiling of the AMD expansion framework in the release, and as TensorWave’s total if it exercises its option in the 10-Q. The release does not link the two.
Lee McIntire, chief executive, Fermi, 13 October 2026
“Our strategic partnership establishes a framework for phases two and three.”
Three Implications
LANDLORDS AND DEVELOPERS Fermi’s release presents a chipmaker’s credit support as a key milestone toward project financing for a single 222 MW lease.
CHIP SUPPLIERS AMD’s Hein says the collaboration expands the infrastructure capacity needed to bring AI solutions to market and supports AMD’s data center momentum.
NEOCLOUD TENANTS The 10-Q makes the TensorWave lease’s effectiveness subject to the satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions, including project-level financing.
The framework puts it this way: “Companies that solve the power equation will dominate the AI era; those that don’t will watch their chips sit idle.”
As we read it, AMD’s credit support is a chipmaker paying attention to the power side of that equation: Fermi’s pitch is behind-the-meter power, and its first 222 MW tenant runs AMD hardware.
Fermi’s cash and cash equivalents and the line its 10-Q labels Debt, net, at 31 December 2025 and 30 June 2026, from the Q2 2026 10-Q balance sheet. Restricted cash of $29.2 million at 30 June is not included.
What Is Not Established
The release gives no dollar amount, term or fee for AMD’s credit support, and it does not say whether the TensorWave lease has closed. The 650 MW framework is described as covering future expansion; the release names no tenant for it. Fermi had not filed a current report on the agreement with the SEC by the time we checked on 13 October.
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Fermi says AMD has signed a credit support agreement for a 222 MW phase-one lease at Project Matador, which it calls a key milestone toward project financing, and the two companies have set a framework for future expansion of up to 650 MW.
A note on sourcing. On 13 October 2026 we read Fermi’s press release of the same day, the TensorWave lease note and balance sheet in Fermi’s Q2 2026 10-Q, and TensorWave’s May 2025 funding release in full. Capacity, lease and financing claims are the companies’ own statements; the release gives no amount for AMD’s support, and we have not used reported share moves or analyst notes we could not read in full. Nothing here is investment advice.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur, HackerNoon and Search Engine People. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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