Core Scientific's AMD deal nearly doubles its data-center capacity and vindicates the rejection of CoreWeave's $9B bid. But the economic question remains open.
Core Scientific (CORZ) announced a data-center partnership with AMD (AMD) on July 28. The chipmaker's ecosystem gets access to more than 500 megawatts of U.S. capacity starting in 2027, with the option to expand to 2.5 gigawatts. CORZ shares rallied in premarket trading.
The agreement is bigger than the initial press release suggested. Core Scientific's earnings release described 15-year contracts covering roughly 530 megawatts across five sites, representing more than $14 billion of potential base contracted revenue. Its regulatory filing drew a distinction: AMD directly leased 377 megawatts. An unnamed neocloud leased another 152 megawatts under terms that give AMD equipment protections and certain rights if that customer defaults.
The larger story started nine months earlier. Core Scientific shareholders rejected an all-stock acquisition by CoreWeave. The announcement-date implied equity value was about $9 billion. The fixed exchange ratio valued CORZ at $20.40 per share when the deal was announced in July 2025. But the value shareholders would have received at closing was not fixed – it moved with CoreWeave's share price.
In January, Gullane Capital Partners founder Trip Miller, who opposed the sale, predicted Core Scientific would find new AI customers. "I expect them to announce deals for AI with third parties other than CoreWeave," he told Business Insider.
The new agreements appear to deliver that customer diversification. Combined, AMD's 377-megawatt direct lease and the neocloud's 152-megawatt lease exceed Miller's roughly 400-megawatt expectation, though AMD did not directly lease the full 529 megawatts. The question is whether the deals prove shareholders were right to keep Core Scientific independent, or merely give the company a large, capital-intensive opportunity whose ultimate value remains uncertain.
Before the new agreements, CoreWeave was Core Scientific's only meaningful high-density colocation customer. Core Scientific had leased about 590 megawatts to CoreWeave, and that single customer generated 77% of the company's first-half revenue.
The new leases nearly double total leased customer power capacity to roughly 1.1 gigawatts. Core Scientific said the portfolio now represents more than $24 billion of potential contracted revenue, including the existing CoreWeave relationship and the new AMD-linked agreements.
The independence case depended on more than rising demand for AI infrastructure. Core Scientific had to show that its sites, power access, construction capabilities, and delivery record were attractive to counterparties other than CoreWeave. The AMD ecosystem provides that proof.
AMD's direct 377-megawatt commitment is spread across sites in Pecos, Muskogee, and Hunt County. The additional 152 megawatts leased by a neocloud across two other sites will support AMD equipment, with AMD receiving contractual protections surrounding that equipment.
The initial 529 megawatts of critical IT capacity are already comparable with Core Scientific's entire 590-megawatt CoreWeave relationship. If AMD converts its reservation rights for another 1,925 megawatts into leases, the partnership could eventually dwarf CoreWeave's position.
The agreement also accelerates Core Scientific's shift away from bitcoin mining. Colocation generated $136.7 million of the company's $164.2 million in second-quarter revenue. The business is increasingly becoming a data-center landlord rather than a bitcoin miner attempting an AI pivot.
Validating the strategic premise behind independence is not the same as proving shareholders created more value by rejecting the sale.
The headline comparison – more than $14 billion of potential contracted revenue versus a rejected $9 billion acquisition – is tempting but misleading. The $9 billion figure was the announcement-date implied equity value of the proposed stock consideration; final value depended on CoreWeave's share price at closing. The AMD-linked figure is potential base revenue collected over 15 years before construction costs, operating expenses, financing costs, taxes, and the time value of money.
The full 2.5-gigawatt opportunity also should not be treated as contracted capacity. The signed leases cover 529 megawatts of critical IT load. AMD has only a reservation right for the additional 1,925 megawatts through December 2028, subject to timing and other conditions.
Even the initial capacity requires qualification. AMD is the direct tenant for 377 megawatts. The remaining 152 megawatts is leased to an unnamed neocloud. AMD can cure certain defaults and has protections over its equipment, but those arrangements are not identical to AMD directly guaranteeing every payment under the neocloud leases.
AMD received the right to buy up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47 per share, with vesting tied to contracted capacity. Warrants covering roughly 6.5 million shares vested and became exercisable when the initial agreements were signed; the underlying shares were not issued at that point.
The shares underlying the vested portion represent about 2% of Core Scientific's 321.3 million shares outstanding on July 23. The full 30-million-share warrant equals about 9.3% of the current count, or roughly 8.5% of the post-exercise total if exercised in full. A cash exercise of all 30 million warrants at the stated strike price would also provide Core Scientific with about $704 million.
The capital requirements may matter more than the dilution. Core Scientific had roughly $4.4 billion of borrowings at the end of June, including $3.3 billion of 7.75% senior secured notes issued in May. It was also committed to about $1 billion of future construction and purchase expenditures, of which only $264 million was expected to be passed through to a customer.
Core Scientific's existing CoreWeave conversions are funded almost entirely by that customer. The company warned that new sites, including Hunt County and Muskogee – two locations involved in the AMD leases – do not have the same funding structure. Complete project-financing terms for the new agreements were not disclosed.
The partnership shifts the test from customer acquisition to execution. Core Scientific must build the capacity on time, control construction costs, arrange suitable project financing, and generate returns that justify the spending, debt, and potential dilution.
The AMD partnership substantially vindicates the strategic argument behind rejecting CoreWeave. Core Scientific has shown it can attract another major technology partner. The 529 megawatts tied to the AMD ecosystem – 377 megawatts leased directly by AMD and 152 megawatts by a neocloud – are nearly as large as its entire CoreWeave relationship.
It does not yet vindicate the economic outcome of the shareholder vote. More than $14 billion of potential revenue over 15 years cannot be compared directly with the proposed transaction's roughly $9 billion announcement-date implied equity value. Complete project-financing terms remain undisclosed. Core Scientific carries substantial debt. The warrants could dilute shareholders if exercised, though exercise would also provide cash to the company.
The fairest conclusion is that shareholders have been proven right about Core Scientific's customer appeal, but not yet about the value ultimately available to them.
The next test is whether Core Scientific can begin delivering the initial 529 megawatts in 2027, as management expects, at returns that support the independence case and convert AMD's remaining 1,925-megawatt reservation into firm leases without disproportionate financing costs or dilution.
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