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Crusoe Secures $11.6 Billion to Expand Texas AI Data Center, Supporting OpenAI Infrastructure

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AI infrastructure startup Crusoe has raised an additional $11.6 billion to significantly expand its upcoming data center in Abilene, Texas, marking one of the largest funding rounds in the emerging “neocloud” space. The new capital brings the total raised for the project to $15 billion and will allow Crusoe to expand the facility from two to eight buildings, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

Founded in 2018 as a crypto-focused firm, Crusoe has since pivoted to become a specialized cloud provider for AI workloads, part of a new wave of “neoclouds” that offer tailored infrastructure beyond the traditional giants like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

Crusoe has been contracted by Oracle to construct the first data center for Stargate — a major AI infrastructure initiative backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, with a planned $500 billion investment in global AI infrastructure. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Abilene facility is set to become OpenAI’s largest data center.

“Our customer is Oracle. OpenAI is Oracle’s customer,” Crusoe clarified in a statement, emphasizing its indirect yet vital role in supporting the ChatGPT creator’s infrastructure needs.

The project is seen as part of OpenAI’s long-term goal to reduce reliance on Microsoft, its current primary cloud provider.

Key Details:

  • Location: Abilene, Texas

  • Total Buildings: 8 (up from 2)

  • AI Chips: Each building will house up to 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell systems

  • Sponsors: Crusoe, Blue Owl’s Real Assets platform, and Primary Digital Infrastructure

The facility will support intensive generative AI workloads, crucial for OpenAI’s future model development and deployment.

The explosive growth in demand for AI compute capacity has fueled an investment boom in data centers powered by specialized chips like Nvidia’s Blackwell series — a market Crusoe is aggressively entering.

Neither OpenAI nor Nvidia responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

UAE to Build World’s Largest AI Campus Outside U.S. Under Landmark Trump-Era Deal

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States have signed a historic technology agreement to construct the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the U.S., signaling a major policy shift that clears the way for the UAE to access advanced U.S. AI chips, particularly from Nvidia.

Finalized during President Donald Trump’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the deal marks a significant easing of restrictions that previously barred such transfers over U.S. concerns about China’s access to critical technologies.

Key Components of the Agreement:

  • The AI campus, covering 10 square miles (25.9 km²), will be located in Abu Dhabi and have 5 gigawatts of power, enough to support 2.5 million Nvidia B200 chips, per estimates by Rand Corporation analyst Lennart Heim.

  • The facility will be developed by G42, a UAE state-backed firm, but operated and managed by American companies, ensuring compliance with U.S. security protocols.

  • The UAE has committed to build or finance data centers in the U.S. that are at least as powerful as those in the UAE, reinforcing reciprocal investment and security alignment.

Chip Access and U.S. Industry Involvement:

  • Sources say the UAE could be permitted to import up to 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced chips annually beginning in 2025.

  • The agreement includes support from U.S. tech giants:

    • Amazon Web Services will collaborate on cybersecurity and cloud adoption.

    • Qualcomm will help establish an AI engineering center in the region.

“American companies will operate the data centers and offer American-managed cloud services throughout the region,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

Strategic Implications:

The deal represents a recalibration of UAE tech policy, allowing it to:

  • Deepen ties with the U.S. on strategic technologies like compute infrastructure and cloud services

  • Maintain economic ties with China, while minimizing reliance on Chinese hardware in critical infrastructure

“It doesn’t mean abandoning China,” said Mohammed Soliman of the Middle East Institute, “but recalibrating tech strategy to align with U.S. standards where it matters most.”

Geopolitical Context:

  • Under Biden, export controls were imposed to prevent chip diversion to China, limiting UAE access.

  • The Trump administration has reversed course, with AI czar David Sacks stating the Biden-era rules were “never intended to capture friends, allies, or strategic partners.”

  • In recent months, G42 and MGX have cut Chinese hardware use and divested from Chinese holdings to meet U.S. compliance conditions.

Still, Huawei and Alibaba Cloud remain active in the UAE, and past AI chip smuggling routes through Singapore, Malaysia, and the UAE have raised flags among U.S. regulators.

This deal marks a strategic turning point not just for U.S.-UAE relations, but for the global AI infrastructure race, cementing the UAE’s ambition to become a top-tier AI superpower—with Washington’s blessing.

CoreWeave Shares Dip Despite $4B OpenAI Deal as Investor Concerns Over Spending Linger

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CoreWeave (CRWV.O) shares fell 2.5% on Thursday despite announcing a major $4 billion expansion deal with OpenAI, as investor concerns persisted over the company’s aggressive spending plans relative to its projected revenue.

The Nvidia-backed cloud computing firm said during its first post-IPO earnings call on Wednesday that it plans to spend nearly four times its expected 2025 revenue, triggering skepticism despite strong top-line partnerships.

Key Deal Highlights:

  • OpenAI, a major CoreWeave client, will pay the company through April 2029, as per a newly disclosed regulatory filing.

  • This is in addition to their existing $11.9 billion, five-year cloud services contract, which includes equity ownership by OpenAI in CoreWeave.

  • CoreWeave also confirmed that it signed a new hyperscaler client, but declined to identify the company.

Market Reaction and Analyst Views:

  • Stock Performance: Despite the dip, CoreWeave shares remain up over 64% since their March IPO.

  • Analyst Reactions:

    • Morgan Stanley and MoffettNathanson speculate the unnamed new hyperscaler is Alphabet (Google), citing earlier reports that Google was exploring renting Nvidia chips from CoreWeave.

    • However, Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson & Co warned that hyperscalers are temporary clients, likely to exit once their own infrastructure catches up.

“They will likely go away once they have built out enough of their own data centers,” Luria said.

Context: AI Boom Meets Investor Caution

CoreWeave is part of a growing class of infrastructure providers fueling the AI boom by offering GPU-as-a-service platforms to leading AI developers. Yet, the AI investment wave is entering a more scrutinized phase, as cheaper models from firms like DeepSeek raise questions about sustainability and margins.

Despite robust demand and high-profile partnerships, CoreWeave’s heavy capital expenditures — far outpacing revenue — remain a red flag for value-focused investors, especially as competitors build out in-house capabilities.

Still, at least seven brokerages have raised their price targets for CoreWeave stock to between $50 and $80, showing continued optimism about the company’s long-term role in AI infrastructure.