Nvidia’s $2B CoreWeave push supercharges AI data centres but raises fresh questions about risk, circular financing, and dependency in the AI stack.
NVIDIA just opened its wallet again. The chip giant invested $2 billion into CoreWeave, nearly doubling its stake and making it one of Nvidia’s closest partners. That isn’t a modest backing. It’s a doubling down on infrastructure, Nvidia now says, that is critical to the next wave of AI.
CoreWeave wants to build more than 5 gigawatts of AI data centre capacity by 2030. That’s Nvidia’s language for “AI factories”- huge facilities loaded with GPUs and chips that crunch massive models. NVIDIA will help fast-forward land buys, power hookups, and build-outs with its capital and technology.
Markets liked it. CoreWeave shares jumped as investors bet that this expensive wager pays off. However, not everyone thinks this is purely strategic. Critics worry this isn’t just an investment but circular financing.
NVIDIA backs CoreWeave, which runs NVIDIA chips, which helps NVIDIA sell more chips.
Some see echoes of bubble-era vendor financing. NVIDIA’s CEO calls that view “ridiculous,” saying his company is backing real infrastructure, not gaming its own revenue.
The nuance matters.
On one hand, Nvidia’s cash could be the glue holding together a fragmented AI infrastructure market. Giants like Google and AMD are chasing custom silicon, and building data centres is expensive and politically fraught. NVIDIA’s push into this space might help smaller providers scale.
On the other hand, the deeper Nvidia gets into financing its customers, the more the lines blur between selling products and owning the ecosystem. That’s powerful. And risky.
Investors and regulators should watch closely. This could be infrastructure innovation or the next big AI froth moment.
