- AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave has agreed to acquire its datacenter partner, Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific, for approximately $9 billion
- The merger has granted CoreWeave access to 1.3 gigawatts of gross power capacity and eliminated over $10 billion in lease obligations
- Both companies’ share prices have dropped since the announcement, raising concerns about valuation and shareholder dilution
AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave has announced a landmark acquisition of its longtime datacenter partner, Core Scientific, in a $9 billion all-stock deal aimed at expanding its AI infrastructure footprint. The acquisition will give CoreWeave direct control over vast energy capacity and remove significant financial liabilities tied to leasing, but the market response has been mixed, with both firms’ stocks falling following the news over fears of share dilution. Bitcoin mining outfit Core Scientific filed for bankruptcy in 2022 following the crypto market crash, but exited last January.
CoreWeave Seeks Advantage in AI Arms Race
Under the terms of the agreement, Core Scientific shareholders will receive 0.1235 newly issued CoreWeave Class A shares for each share they hold, valuing Core Scientific at $20.40 per share, a roughly 66% premium over its price prior to rumors of a deal. The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of 2025, will give CoreWeave ownership of 1.3 gigawatts of gross datacenter power and eliminate more than $10 billion in lease obligations. This move comes as the AI infrastructure race intensifies and companies scramble to secure energy and compute resources.
CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator said the deal will allow the company to “deploy AI and HPC workloads at scale,” and described the infrastructure ownership model as one that enhances efficiency and reduces expansion risk. The combined entity is expected to yield $500 million in annual cost savings by 2027 through operational synergies, financing efficiencies, and the elimination of third-party leases.
The End of Core Scientific’s Bitcoin Mining?
While it benefits CoreWeave, the merger places Core Scientific’s Bitcoin mining operations at a crossroads: under its new ownership, nearly half of Core Scientific’s power capacity tied to Bitcoin may either be phased out or repurposed for AI and HPC, marking a deliberate pivot away from pure mining. Core Scientific has all but confirmed this pivot already, having scaled back public reporting on its mining output in favor of positioning itself as a provider of high-density compute infrastructure.
The buyout and potential pivot may not come as a surprise following Core Scientific’s troubled few years; following the collapse of the crypto market in late 2022, Core Scientific filed for bankruptcy, having amassed annual losses of over $1.7 billion over the prior year. The company finally exited bankruptcy in January 2024, but the sale and siphoning off of the Bitcoin mining aspect would hardly be unexpected.
