How a Scrappy Cryptominer Transformed Into the Multibillion-Dollar Backbone of the AI Boom

Wired profiled CoreWeave’s rapid transformation from cryptocurrency mining operation to $19 billion AI infrastructure powerhouse, highlighting the company’s aggressive data center expansion strategy. The feature explored how CoreWeave evolved from a 2016 bitcoin mining hobby into a critical AI cloud provider serving clients including Microsoft and OpenAI, leveraging expertise in rapid GPU deployment and close relationships with Nvidia.

CoreWeave’s explosive growth through 2023 included securing $2.3 billion in GPU-backed loans and nearly $2.2 billion in investment funding. The company expanded from a handful of facilities to planning 28 data center campuses across the US, Europe, and potentially Asia by year-end 2024—more than nine times its early 2023 footprint—driven by long-term contracts with AI giants requiring massive GPU capacity.

The article detailed CoreWeave’s unconventional tactics for overcoming supply chain constraints, including sourcing equipment from gray markets and completing data center buildouts in record time. Wired positioned CoreWeave as one of only seven Nvidia “elite” cloud partners in the US, giving the company strategic advantages in securing scarce GPU supplies amid surging demand for AI infrastructure.

Read Wired’s complete investigation into CoreWeave’s meteoric rise in the AI infrastructure market.