OpenAI to pay CoreWeave $11.9 billion over five years for AI data centers, services

CoreWeave, the provider of data center technology and services for artificial intelligence companies, has signed a five-year deal with OpenAI valued at $11.9 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

As part of the deal, OpenAI will receive a stake in CoreWeave worth about $350 million tied to the company’s upcoming initial public offering, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the information is confidential.

Reuters was first to report on the agreement.

CoreWeave, which is backed by AI chipmaker Nvidia, is set to debut on the Nasdaq in the coming weeks. The company said in its IPO prospectus last week that revenue in 2024 soared more than 700% to $1.92 billion, with more than 60% coming from Microsoft, the core investor in OpenAI.

In October, CoreWeave announced a $650 million credit line to expand its business and data center portfolio. Over the past two years, the company has raised more than $12 billion from equity and debt investors, including a $1.1 billion round in May at a $19 billion valuation.

CoreWeave said in its prospectus that it finished 2024 with 32 data centers, which housed more than 250,000 Nvidia graphics processing units, or GPUs. That surpassed the company’s announced goals in October, when CoreWeave said it planned to have 28 data centers open by the end of the year, with 10 more planned for 2025.

In addition to supplying AI computing services to Microsoft, CoreWeave’s customer base also includes Meta, IBM and Cohere.

CoreWeave was valued at $19 billion in a funding round in May. Reuters reported in November that the company was targeting a valuation of more than $35 billion in its IPO.