Core Scientific, a leading crypto mining company that recently emerged from bankruptcy, has entered into a 12-year partnership with cloud provider CoreWeave to support artificial intelligence training. This move showcases a new trend among Bitcoin miners who are expanding into AI-related ventures.
Based in Texas, Core Scientific announced in a press release on Jun. 3 that they have signed a series of long-term contracts with CoreWeave, a former crypto mining firm now specializing in cloud services for AI. Under the agreement, Core Scientific will supply around 200 megawatts of infrastructure to facilitate CoreWeave’s NVIDIA GPU operations for AI training. These infrastructure upgrades are scheduled to commence in the second half of 2024 and be fully operational by the first half of 2025. It is anticipated that this partnership will generate over $3.5 billion in revenue.
In a strategic move, Core Scientific plans to offset approximately $300 million in infrastructure investments against hosting payments, capped at 50% of monthly fees until fully reimbursed. Moreover, the contracts include provisions for potential expansion, positioning Core Scientific as one of the largest data center operators in the United States.
Established in 2017 by Mike Levitt and Darin Feinstein, Core Scientific quickly garnered attention in the crypto mining sector, securing over $50 million in equity funding from investors. However, the company faced financial challenges due to market volatility, nearly filing for bankruptcy in late 2022 following a series of collapses involving FTX, Celsius Network, and Three Arrows Capital. Fortunately, Core Scientific successfully emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in early 2024.
With the recent partnership and growth plans, Core Scientific is poised to solidify its position in the industry, tapping into the intersection of crypto, AI, and data center operations.