CoreWeave's $99B order book faces rising data center costs

Key takeaway

• CoreWeave, a cloud provider specializing in AI infrastructure, has seen its order book surge to $99.4 billion（約16兆円）, but faces mounting pressure from rising data center construction costs—now estimated at $15 to $25 million（約40億円） per megawatt.

• The company is attempting to expand from around one gigawatt today to 8 GW by 2030, backed by $25 billion（約4兆円） in debt, though the costs and component scarcity may constrain its ability to scale economically.

3 Key Points

FAQ

How does CoreWeave keep capital costs manageable?

CoreWeave leases physical data center facilities from third-party developers rather than owning them, and secures funding by using customer contracts as collateral for delayed-draw term loans. This structure allows lenders to evaluate the creditworthiness of major end customers like Meta, resulting in better borrowing terms.

What could threaten CoreWeave's growth plans?

If AI inference demand weakens over the next three to five years, or if the industry shifts toward low-cost open-source models, pricing for compute capacity could fall, making it harder for the company to sustain its high capital spending and achieve its 8 GW target by 2030.