It's been a very good year for Coreweave. In March, the AI cloud infrastructure provider went public in one of the year's biggest and most anticipated IPOs, but it failed to live up to the hype.
A further setback occurred in October when a plan to acquire the cloud provider's business partner Core Scientific fell through due to skepticism from the target company's shareholders.
During that time, the company has acquired various companies, its stock price has gone up and down, and its role in the burgeoning AI data center market has been both criticized and praised.
In an interview at Fortune's AI Brainstorm Summit in San Francisco on Tuesday, Coreweave co-founder and CEO Michael Intrator defended his company's accomplishments from critics, noting that the company is in the midst of building a “new business model” for how cloud computing is built and run. Their collection of Nvidia GPUs is so valuable that they borrow it to finance their operations. The executive seemed to be implying. “If you chart a new path, it is your destiny to encounter some difficulties along the way.”
Asked about his company's sometimes volatile stock price, Mr. Intrater said, “I think people are often shortsighted.” “Yes, things are seesawing,” he acknowledged, but noted that Coreweave's IPO took place shortly before President Trump's tariffs went into effect, a period of significant uncertainty for the overall economy.
“We faced one of the most challenging environments just before Liberation Day and were able to pull off a successful IPO despite incredible headwinds,” the CEO told Brainstorm Editorial Director Andrew Nsukka. “I couldn't be more proud of what the company has accomplished,” he added.
Coreweave stock may have debuted in the midst of the economic downturn in March, but its price has risen significantly since then. Originally priced at $40, it has risen over the past eight months to well over $150, and currently hovers around $90. More cautious critics compare the company to meme stocks because of its up and down trends.
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Some of the uncertainty surrounding Coreweave's stock price is believed to be due to the company's high debt. Shortly after Coreweave announced a deal Monday to issue more debt to finance construction of the data center, the company's stock price fell about 8%.
Intrater seems to view his company as a disruptor, and its unconventional strategies may take some getting used to. “When you introduce a new model, when you introduce a new way of doing business, when you disrupt an environment that has been static, it's going to take some people time,” he said during an appearance Tuesday.
Coreweave actually started its corporate life as a cryptocurrency miner, but quickly established itself as a key provider of “AI infrastructure” to some of the most major companies in the technology industry. In that role, the company provides GPUs to AI developers and has key partnerships with Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia, Meta, and other leading technology companies.
Another topic brought up on Tuesday was the concept of “circularity” within the AI industry. “Circular” business deals, in which a small number of powerful AI companies invest in each other, have been frequently criticized, calling into question the long-term economic stability of the industry. Nvidia is not only a supplier of GPUs, but also one of its investors, so it may not be surprising that Intrator dispelled such concerns. “Companies are trying to deal with wild changes in supply and demand,” he said. “We can do that by working together.”
Since its IPO, Coreweave has continued its efforts to expand its business. The company acquired AI developer platform Weights and Balances in March, followed by the acquisition of OpenPipe, a startup that helps enterprises create and deploy AI agents through reinforcement learning. In October, it also signed a deal to acquire Marimo (an open source notebook developer) and another AI company, Monolith. It also recently announced an expansion of its cloud partnership with OpenAI and said it plans to enter the federal market, offering cloud infrastructure to U.S. government agencies and the defense industrial base.