Technology
CoreWeave swallows Core Scientific for 9 billion dollars – shift towards AI infrastructure in focus
CoreWeave acquires rival Core Scientific, saves $10 billion in leasing costs, and strengthens its AI infrastructure.
CoreWeave acquires former Bitcoin mining specialist Core Scientific in an all-stock deal worth $9 billion. The transaction provides the buyer with immediate access to high-performance data centers while eliminating $10 billion in lease liabilities that previously burdened the balance sheet.
The deal, which is to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025, values Core Scientific significantly higher than a failed takeover offer last year, which was rejected by the target company at the time as undervalued. Nonetheless, the market remained skeptical: Core Scientific shares fell by up to 20 percent following the announcement, while CoreWeave lost 5 percent.
Criticism came from analysts at Cantor. The purchase price corresponds to only a premium of around 10 percent on the previous all-time high – too little to spark enthusiasm. Core Scientific shareholders receive 0.1235 new CoreWeave shares per share. Due to the fixed exchange ratio, they bear the full price risk until closing.
The deal offers strategic leeway for CoreWeave. CEO Michael Intrator emphasized to analysts that the acquisition significantly increases operational leverage and reduces expansion risks. Access to the data centers is central to meeting the rapidly growing demand for AI computing.
CoreWeave rents Nvidia graphics processors to large technology companies and counts Nvidia as both an investor and a customer. Despite a weak IPO in March, the stock has since risen by nearly 300 percent; the market capitalization is currently around 75 billion dollars.
Both companies share a common past as Bitcoin miners, but have radically shifted course in recent years. Core Scientific, founded in 2017 by crypto investor Darin Feinstein, filed for creditor protection in 2022 after the crypto market collapse, and Feinstein left the company in 2023.
CoreWeave plans, according to its own statement, to sell or repurpose the remaining crypto mining business "in the medium term." Intrator made it unequivocally clear: "We do not want to expand our commitment to cryptocurrencies.
