Microsoft Inks Billion-Dollar Deal With CoreWeave for AI Computing

CoreWeave, a former Ethereum miner, has signed a billion-dollar AI deal with Microsoft. The deal will see the former’s cloud infrastructure used for OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The deal involves AI computing and will involve CoreWeave’s cloud computing infrastructure. Over the years, it could profit many billions of dollars for Microsoft.

Microsoft Bets Big on AI

CoreWeave offers access to Nvidia graphics cards, which can then be used for the computationally intensive models that are behind AI technologies. Neither Microsoft nor CoreWeave has spoken about the deal, though an official statement should not be far away.

OpenAI currently uses its Azure cloud infrastructure to power its ChatGPT application, but it appears that it may need more power. For CoreWeave, it’s a significant step forward, with the company making hefty progress since it was first launched in 2017.

Microsoft’s stock price is also nearing a new all-time high, with the current price being $332.58. Over a 1-year period, the stock is up 21%, and YTD, it’s up a massive 38.8% thanks to the ChatGPT frenzy.

CoreWeave Raised $200M As Generative AI Draws Investment

CoreWeave, which was recently valued at $2 billion, also managed to raise $200 million earlier this week. Other companies that have invested in CoreWeave include Nvidia, which put in $100 million.

The AI boom has renewed interest in investing in the tech space, which has taken a bit of a battering with layoffs at several major companies. In Q1 2023, the generative AI space has seen 46 deals amounting to $1.7 billion in funding. It also looks like there will be more deals in the weeks to come.

Once the Largest US Ethereum Miner

CoreWeave is a specialized cloud provider that offers GPU computing resources at a large scale. Use cases include VFX and rendering, machine learning and AI, and batch processing and pixel streaming.

CoreWeave was once the largest United States miner for the Ethereum blockchain and also lent over 6,000 high-end GPUs to the Coronavirus vaccination development effort. The company has steadily risen in value and prominence and has changed its focus to goals other than blockchain mining.