CoreWeave has signed a $6.3 billion initial order with backer Nvidia, the data center operator said on Monday, in a deal that guarantees the AI chipmaker will purchase any cloud capacity not sold to customers.
Shares of CoreWeave rose 8% following the announcement, as the agreement cements the company’s position as a critical Nvidia cloud partner and cushions it against any potential decline in demand for AI computing capacity.
CoreWeave, which operates AI data centers across the U.S. and Europe, specializes in providing access to Nvidia’s highly sought-after GPUs — the engines driving the training and deployment of large artificial intelligence models.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026): big discounts for early bird.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab: From Technical Design to Deployment (next edition begins Jan 24 2026).
The latest order extends through April 13, 2032, and builds on a prior April 2023 agreement between the two companies. Under the amended deal, Nvidia is obligated to purchase any unsold CoreWeave capacity, effectively serving as a financial backstop.
Analysts at Barclays called the arrangement a major stabilizer for CoreWeave. “We see this as a positive for CoreWeave given concerns from investors around the company’s ability to fill data center capacity beyond its two largest customers (Microsoft and OpenAI),” the analysts noted. They added that the incremental spending by Nvidia represents “healthy diversification” away from its heaviest cloud buyers.
The deal comes on the heels of CoreWeave’s expanding ties with OpenAI. In March, the company signed a five-year, $11.9 billion contract to provide cloud capacity to the ChatGPT maker. OpenAI also committed to pay as much as $4 billion through April 2029 under an additional agreement.
Demand for CoreWeave’s services has surged in step with the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools. In August, the company reported strong second-quarter growth, but the expansion has come at a cost. Operating expenses soared nearly fourfold to $1.19 billion, underscoring the financial strain that accompanies rapid scaling in one of the world’s most capital-intensive industries.
The deal reflects how Nvidia — the world’s most valuable chipmaker — is deepening its ecosystem strategy. Nvidia is making sure of reliable distribution channels for its GPUs while also hedging against the risk of oversupply in AI infrastructure by backing CoreWeave. For CoreWeave, the arrangement eases investor concerns about customer concentration, as Microsoft and OpenAI had previously accounted for the majority of its revenues.
Cloud partnerships of this nature are not unprecedented, but the magnitude of Nvidia’s financial commitment through 2032 stands out. The arrangement resembles strategic “take-or-pay” contracts used in energy markets, where buyers agree to purchase capacity whether they use it or not — a mechanism designed to de-risk suppliers’ long-term investments.
What It Could Mean for Both Entities
If AI adoption continues at its current pace, CoreWeave’s partnership with Nvidia is expected to place it as one of the most influential players in the AI cloud market, competing against hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. In this scenario, CoreWeave could parlay its Nvidia-backed security into broader industry trust, attracting startups and enterprises seeking reliable GPU access at scale.
Alternatively, if AI demand moderates or funding tightens, CoreWeave’s financials could come under strain. While Nvidia’s backstop shields the company from unsold capacity, the fourfold jump in operating expenses highlights the vulnerability of rapid expansion. Prolonged cost pressures might force CoreWeave into further partnerships or equity raises, even with Nvidia’s backing.
For Nvidia, the deal is a hedge: if end-market demand weakens, it can absorb unused capacity without leaving CoreWeave exposed. But some analysts warn that such guarantees could distort market signals, encouraging overbuilding of data centers and heightening systemic risks if AI investment slows.
In the broader AI infrastructure race, the CoreWeave-Nvidia pact underscores a deeper trend — the alignment of chipmakers and cloud operators in strategic partnerships designed to secure dominance in the next wave of computing. But how sustainable these alliances are will depend on whether AI-driven workloads continue to grow at their current breakneck speed, or whether the market enters a cooling phase as cost and energy concerns mount.