AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave has announced its intent to acquire crypto miner Core Scientific in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $9 billion. This strategic move highlights CoreWeave's aggressive push to expand its high-performance computing and AI infrastructure, leveraging Core Scientific’s substantial data center footprint and valuable power contracts. The acquisition is designed to enhance CoreWeave’s operating efficiency, de-risk future expansion plans, and accelerate the deployment of AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads at scale, securing the crucial energy and data center capacity needed to power surging AI demand.

The agreement values Core Scientific at $20.40 per share, representing a significant premium of nearly 66% to its stock’s closing price before initial reports of potential deal talks surfaced in late June. While Core Scientific’s shares saw a 22% decline in morning trading following the announcement, Nvidia-backed CoreWeave was down 4.5%. Core Scientific stockholders are slated to receive 0.1235 newly issued CoreWeave stock for each share they hold. The deal is projected to close in the fourth quarter of the year, with the final price to be determined at that time. CoreWeave also noted that this acquisition would immediately eliminate over $10 billion of cumulative future lease overhead for existing contractual sites over the next 12 years.

Core Scientific, initially founded in 2017 as an Ethereum-focused crypto miner, had already begun a significant pivot towards AI. After 'The Merge'—Ethereum's 2022 upgrade—drastically reduced mining rewards, the company shuttered its mining business and began to diversify by leasing power and data center space to AI companies. This acquisition by CoreWeave is seen as a benchmark for other bitcoin miners looking to transition into the AI sector, as power remains a primary constraint for AI data center expansion. CoreWeave will gain full control of Core Scientific's entire 1.3 GW power contracted and future pipeline, a critical asset in the competitive AI landscape.

For Core Scientific, this acquisition marks a remarkable turnaround. The company had filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 amidst a sharp drop in bitcoin prices and soaring energy costs, only emerging from bankruptcy in early 2024. Like several other bitcoin miners, Core Scientific had been looking to capitalize on the booming AI market to fuel its growth. CoreWeave, known for providing access to data centers and Nvidia-powered AI chips, has experienced rapid growth itself, with its revenue climbing more than eight-fold last year, and boasts a market value of approximately $79 billion. Goldman Sachs is advising CoreWeave, while Moelis and PJT Partners are serving as financial advisers to Core Scientific.