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In a major AI infra move, OpenAI has inked a 5-year deal worth $11.9 billion with cloud provider CoreWeave, per Reuters.
The deets: under the agreement OpenAI will receive $350 million in CoreWeave equity, separate from the company’s planned IPO.
CoreWeave, once a crypto mining firm, has transformed into an AI cloud powerhouse, running over 250,000 Nvidia GPUs across 32 data centres.
By the numbers: in 2024, its revenue skyrocketed to $1.9 billion, with Microsoft contributing 62% of that. But this new deal reduces CoreWeave’s dependency on Microsoft and strengthens its IPO prospects.
The move also reflects shifting dynamics between OpenAI and Microsoft. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor, was once its sole cloud provider.
Big picture: OpenAI has always been seeking more compute power, and this deal will provide just that.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is investing in its own AI models and recently hired Mustafa Suleyman, a key AI rival.
Zoom out: with CoreWeave’s $4 billion+ IPO on the horizon and OpenAI ramping up AI ambitions, this deal is more than just a cloud contract.
