AUSTIN, TX – In a landmark deal that reshapes the digital landscape, AI infrastructure powerhouse CoreWeave has announced it will acquire former crypto-mining giant Core Scientific in an all-stock transaction valued at nearly $9 billion. The move signals a critical new era where the immense power infrastructure once built for the crypto boom is now being repurposed to fuel the voracious energy demands of the artificial intelligence revolution.
This strategic acquisition is a massive win for CoreWeave, an Nvidia-backed company racing to secure the electricity needed to support its surging AI workloads. By absorbing Core Scientific, CoreWeave not only gains control of its energy-intensive data centers but also immediately eliminates over $10 billion in future lease payments it would have owed over the next 12 years—a decisive move to secure its operational future.
For Core Scientific, this acquisition marks a stunning turnaround. The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2022 amid plummeting bitcoin prices and soaring energy costs, successfully emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year. Now, its shareholders are poised for a significant premium, with the offer representing a nearly 66% increase over the stock’s value before deal talks were reported.
The two companies are no strangers. Just last year, Core Scientific rejected an unsolicited offer from CoreWeave, deeming it too low. However, the rejection paved the way for a crucial partnership, with Core Scientific agreeing to provide 200 megawatts of its infrastructure to power CoreWeave’s services. Today’s acquisition is the ultimate evolution of that relationship, turning a partnership into a full-blown fusion.
This deal is also a story of transformation for CoreWeave itself. Founded in 2017 as an Ethereum miner, the company astutely pivoted to AI and high-performance computing after a 2022 Ethereum upgrade made its mining operations obsolete. That pivot has paid off spectacularly, with CoreWeave’s revenue climbing more than eight-fold last year, according to its IPO prospectus.
The acquisition, expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, is more than just a business transaction; it’s a clear sign that in the age of AI, power is the new gold, and the ghosts of the crypto gold rush are providing the foundation for the future.
