CoreWeave Plans Up to $23 Billion AI Infrastructure Spending, Shares Fall

CoreWeave, a Nvidia-backed AI cloud hosting and data center company, revealed plans to spend between $20 billion and $23 billion in 2025 on AI infrastructure and capacity to meet rising demand from clients like Microsoft. This heavy capital expenditure, which is four times higher than its projected revenue for the year, caused CoreWeave's stock to decline significantly following its first earnings report since going public in March 2025. Despite a 420% revenue increase in the first quarter, the company also reported soaring operating costs and a widened net loss, driven in part by stock-based compensation related to its IPO. CEO Mike Intrator emphasized that the company's debt and capital spending strategy will take time for the market to understand, asserting confidence in eventually achieving significant profitability. CoreWeave's backlog includes a notable $11.9 billion deal with OpenAI, coupled with a $350 million investment by OpenAI through a stock purchase. Analysts and investors remain cautious due to the capital-intensive nature of CoreWeave's growth strategy and rising interest expenses, reflecting broader industry trends of substantial AI infrastructure investments by hyperscalers like Microsoft.