CoreWeave and OpenAI Expand $6.5 Billion Partnership for AI Cloud Infrastructure

CoreWeave, Inc., a cloud infrastructure provider specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, has announced an expanded agreement with OpenAI to supply computing resources for training OpenAI's next-generation models. The new contract, valued at up to $6.5 billion, brings the total value of their collaborations to approximately $22.4 billion. This marks the third major agreement between the two companies in 2025, following an initial $11.9 billion deal in March and a $4 billion expansion in May.

The partnership underscores the escalating demand for computational power in AI development. CoreWeave, originally founded as Atlantic Crypto and pivoting from Ethereum mining, has evolved into a key provider of GPU-based AI data centers. The company has gained prominence through strategic investments in high-end Nvidia GPUs and has attracted funding, including a $2.3 billion debt financing deal backed by Nvidia H100 GPUs.

This expanded agreement is part of OpenAI's broader strategy to secure substantial computing resources for its ambitious "Stargate" infrastructure project, which aims to achieve 10 gigawatts of computational capacity through up to $500 billion in investment. Recently, OpenAI announced the launch of three new sites with Oracle and two with SoftBank, bringing the planned Stargate capacity near 7 gigawatts.

The collaboration between CoreWeave and OpenAI highlights the growing interdependence between AI developers and specialized cloud infrastructure providers to meet the increasing computational demands of advanced AI model training and deployment.

Michael Intrator, CEO of CoreWeave, stated, "This milestone affirms the trust that world-leading innovators have in CoreWeave’s ability to power the most demanding inference and training workloads at an unmatched pace."

Peter Hoeschele, VP of Infrastructure and Industrial Compute at OpenAI, commented, "By delivering compute at unmatched speed and scale, [CoreWeave is] helping us advance the frontier of intelligence and ensure AI's benefits reach everyone."

The collaboration between CoreWeave and OpenAI reflects a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies are investing heavily in AI infrastructure. Nvidia, a key player in AI hardware, has announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI and has also invested in CoreWeave, holding over 5% of the company. CoreWeave, in turn, signed a $6.3 billion initial order with Nvidia for data center hardware, which includes provisions that Nvidia will buy unused cloud capacity. These intertwined investments among major tech players have raised concerns about potential antitrust issues and the sustainability of such "circular" financing practices.

Following the announcement of the expanded agreement, CoreWeave's stock experienced fluctuations, initially dropping 5% in premarket trading but quickly recovering to gain more than 2% during Thursday morning trading. Nvidia's stock also saw a positive impact, with shares rising 4% following the announcement of its $100 billion investment in OpenAI.

The substantial investments in AI infrastructure by companies like CoreWeave and OpenAI have significant social and economic implications. The development and deployment of advanced AI models can lead to job creation in tech sectors, drive innovation across various industries, and potentially transform societal functions. However, these developments also raise concerns about data privacy, ethical AI use, and the concentration of technological power among a few major corporations.

The expanded agreement between CoreWeave and OpenAI marks a significant milestone in the AI industry's evolution, highlighting the critical role of specialized cloud infrastructure in supporting advanced AI model development. As these partnerships deepen and investments grow, it is essential to consider the broader implications for the tech industry, economy, and society at large.