• Microsoft has released various services that are driven by AI in the last year.
• CoreWeave began as an Ethereum miner, using GPUs to validate ETH transactions.

Microsoft has inked a contract with CoreWeave, a cloud computing infrastructure provider and former Ethereum miner. This is to power Microsoft’s AI-driven services.

CNBC reported on June 1 that, based on information from “people with knowledge of the matter,” Microsoft might spend billions of dollars on the transaction with CoreWeave over the course of many years.

Banking on AI Boom

Microsoft has released various services that are driven by AI in the last year. Coinciding with the explosion of this technology. One prominent instance of this is OpenAI’s removal of the waitlist for GPT-4 integration with its web browsers Bing and Microsoft Edge.

OpenAI also makes use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform for its extensive computing needs. In 2017, CoreWeave began as an Ethereum miner. Using GPUs to validate Ethereum transactions in the blockchain’s early days as a proof-of-work system.

Around 2019, the company began shifting its emphasis to cloud GPU computing. Because it saw a need for low-cost, scalable, and flexible compute choices that it said traditional suppliers weren’t providing.

The news of the transaction with Microsoft comes just days after CoreWeave said it had raised $421 million. Bringing the amount of its Series B investment round from April, which had originally raised $221 million.

Magnetar Capital acted as the driving force behind the Series B, including involvement from long-time strategic partner Nvidia. The company said in April that it will utilize the funds to develop its cloud infrastructure, which targets several computing tasks like AI, machine learning, visual effects, and rendering.