CoreWeave Shifts to Prepayments and Short-Term Deals to Fund AI Infrastructure Growth

CoreWeave, a neocloud that rents out computing power for AI, is changing how it finances its expansion, increasingly asking customers to pay upfront, borrowing against specific contracts and pursuing short-term deals at higher prices, according to its third-quarter results.

The company reported revenue of $3.66 billion, up 168% year on year, alongside a $709 million net loss and $846 million in quarterly interest expense.

CEO Michael Intrator said CoreWeave will not use the unsecured debt market at current yields and does not need to. Instead, it will rely on loans backed by customer contracts to fund most of the infrastructure needed to deliver its $132.5 billion backlog. It also expects about $9 billion in customer prepayments and deposits over the next three months, including more than $3 billion tied to capacity it has already built.

CoreWeave raised prices by about 25% in July and a further 10% later in the quarter, and Intrator said increases are more than offsetting costs. He added that short-term capacity is selling at more than $40 million per megawatt annually, compared with $20 million to $25 million for four- and five-year contracts.

The strategy could lift profits but increases exposure to renewals and pricing, underscoring the AI infrastructure boom’s dependence on sustained demand.