CoreWeave’s Acquisition of Core Scientific: A Strategic Leap Toward Vertical Integration and Future-Proof Growth
In a landmark move that underscores its commitment to scaling artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), the AI Hyperscaler™, has announced its acquisition of Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ), a leading provider of data center infrastructure. The deal, structured as an all-stock transaction, marks a pivotal step in CoreWeave’s strategy to verticalize its data center ownership, ensuring long-term revenue growth, enhanced profitability, and operational resilience.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Core Scientific stockholders will receive 0.1235 newly issued shares of CoreWeave Class A common stock for each share of Core Scientific common stock they hold. Following CoreWeave’s successful initial public offering (IPO) in March 2025, this acquisition positions the company to control approximately 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of gross power across Core Scientific’s expansive national data center footprint. Additionally, the deal unlocks over 1 GW of potential gross power capacity for future expansion, further solidifying CoreWeave’s position as a dominant player in the AI infrastructure space.
A Strategic Vision for AI and HPC Leadership
“This acquisition accelerates our strategy to deploy AI and HPC workloads at scale,” said Michael Intrator, CoreWeave’s Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board, and co-founder. “By verticalizing the ownership of Core Scientific’s high-performance data center infrastructure, we are not only enhancing operating efficiency but also de-risking our future expansion plans. Owning this critical layer of our platform empowers us to deliver superior performance and expertise, helping customers unlock the full potential of AI.”
The acquisition aligns with CoreWeave’s broader mission to provide cutting-edge infrastructure solutions for companies innovating in AI and machine learning. By integrating Core Scientific’s assets, CoreWeave gains unparalleled control over its supply chain, enabling it to optimize costs, streamline operations, and deliver greater value to its clients.
Key Strategic Benefits of the Deal
The acquisition offers several strategic advantages that reinforce CoreWeave’s competitive edge:
- Operational Efficiency:
By eliminating lease overhead and consolidating operations, CoreWeave expects to achieve significant cost savings. This streamlined approach will reduce redundancies and enhance overall efficiency, allowing the company to focus on delivering exceptional service to its customers. - Greater Financing Flexibility:
With ownership of Core Scientific’s infrastructure, CoreWeave can explore diverse financing options to fund committed capital expenditures. This flexibility is expected to lower the company’s cost of capital, providing a stronger financial foundation for future growth. - Power Ownership and Optionality:
Control over a robust power footprint is a game-changer in the data center industry. CoreWeave will gain access to over 1.3 GW of gross power, with additional capacity available for expansion. This positions the company to meet the escalating demand for energy-intensive AI and HPC workloads while maintaining operational agility. - Expanded Expertise:
Core Scientific’s expertise in data center development, power procurement, construction, and site management complements CoreWeave’s existing capabilities. Together, the combined entity will possess unparalleled knowledge and resources to tackle the challenges of building and managing world-class infrastructure.
“CoreWeave has experienced firsthand the operational excellence we deliver and the value of the services we provide,” said Adam Sullivan, President and CEO of Core Scientific. “This partnership will enable us to accelerate the availability of top-tier infrastructure for companies driving innovation with AI, while delivering substantial value to our shareholders.”
Transaction Details and Financial Impact
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval and approval by Core Scientific stockholders. Upon closing, Core Scientific stockholders will own less than 10% of the combined company, based on the agreed-upon exchange ratio.
As of July 3, 2025, the transaction implies a total equity value of approximately $9 billion, calculated on a fully diluted basis using CoreWeave’s 5-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP). This represents a premium of approximately 66% to Core Scientific’s unaffected closing share price of $12.30 on June 25, 2025. The final value will be determined at the time of transaction close.
From a financial perspective, the acquisition is expected to yield immediate and long-term benefits:
- Elimination of Lease Overhead:
The deal eliminates over $10 billion in cumulative future lease obligations tied to existing contractual sites over the next 12 years. This reduction in fixed costs significantly enhances CoreWeave’s profitability. - Cost Savings and Streamlined Operations:
CoreWeave anticipates realizing $500 million in annual run-rate cost savings by the end of 2027 through operational efficiencies and focused resource allocation. - Optionality for Crypto Mining Business:
CoreWeave retains the flexibility to repurpose or divest Core Scientific’s crypto mining business over the medium term, allowing the company to prioritize investments in HPC and AI infrastructure.
A Foundation for Sustainable Growth
With approximately 840 megawatts (MW) of gross power supporting CoreWeave’s HPC contracts and an additional 500 MW dedicated to crypto mining, the acquisition provides CoreWeave with a diversified and scalable asset base. This foundation enables the company to meet the growing demands of AI and HPC workloads while exploring opportunities in emerging markets.
By verticalizing its data center ownership, CoreWeave is not only future-proofing its revenue streams but also positioning itself as a leader in the rapidly evolving AI infrastructure landscape. The acquisition of Core Scientific exemplifies CoreWeave’s commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and customer-centric solutions—ensuring that it remains at the forefront of the AI revolution.
About CoreWeave
CoreWeave, the AI Hyperscaler™, delivers a cloud platform of cutting-edge software powering the next wave of AI. The company’s technology provides enterprises and leading AI labs with cloud solutions for accelerated computing. Since 2017, CoreWeave has operated a growing footprint of data centers across the US and Europe. CoreWeave was ranked as one of the TIME100 most influential companies and featured on Forbes Cloud 100 ranking in 2024. Learn more at www.coreweave.com.
About Core Scientific
Core Scientific is a leader in digital infrastructure for high-density colocation services and digital asset mining. We operate dedicated, purpose-built facilities for digital asset mining and are a premier provider of digital infrastructure, software solutions and services to our third-party customers. We employ our own large fleet of computers (“miners”) to earn digital assets for our own account and to provide hosting services for large digital asset mining customers and we are in the process of allocating and converting a significant portion of our ten facilities in Alabama (1), Georgia (2), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1), North Dakota (1), Oklahoma (1) and Texas (3) to support artificial intelligence-related workloads under a series of contracts that entail the modification of certain of our data centers to deliver next generation colocation services. We derive the majority of our revenue from earning digital assets for our own account (“self-mining”).
