OpenAI Just Handed CoreWeave a $22.4B Lifeline--Microsoft's Grip May Be Slipping

CoreWeave's CRWV latest move has grabbed Wall Street's attention. The company expanded its supply agreements with OpenAI to as much as $22.4 billion, a sharp step-up from earlier commitments of $11.9 billion in March and $4 billion in May. Management emphasized that the new deal will power training for OpenAI's most advanced next-generation models, reinforcing the view that demand for high-performance compute could still be in the early innings of a long AI build-out.

What stands out is the rising role of the so-called neoclouds. CoreWeave now finds itself competing directly with names like Nebius NBIS and Nscale, the latter securing $1.1 billion in financing after striking partnerships with Nvidia and OpenAI in the UK. The capital rush into these providers signals that hyperscale AI infrastructure remains a scarce and valuable asset. CoreWeave's stock trimmed losses on the announcement, though shares still ended the day down 2.7% at $129.86. Even so, its market value has more than tripled since its IPO earlier this year.

The OpenAI partnership also helps CoreWeave diversify away from Microsoft MSFT, which made up 71% of its revenue in the June quarter. At the same time, OpenAI itself is spreading its bets, with earlier deals that included 4.5 gigawatts of compute from Oracleroughly four nuclear reactors' worthwhile maintaining its heavy reliance on Microsoft Azure. CoreWeave has become an important partner in OpenAI's broader infrastructure platform, said Peter Hoeschele, OpenAI's vice president of infrastructure and industrial compute. That positioning could give CoreWeave staying power as AI investment accelerates across the ecosystem.