AI infrastructure provider Crusoe valued at $30.9 billion in latest funding round

Sept 17 (Reuters) – AI infrastructure provider Crusoe said on Thursday it has raised $3.9 billion at a post-money valuation of $30.9 billion, as demand for computing capacity to power AI workloads continues to surge.

Launched in 2018 as a cryptocurrency business, Crusoe later pivoted ​to building AI infrastructure and is among the ​upcoming “neoclouds” that provide specialized AI cloud and data ⁠center services.

• The Series F round was co-led by Atreides Management, Mubadala Capital and Valor Equity Partners, alongside significant backing from new and existing investors including Founders Fund, Nvidia and QIA, among others.

• Crusoe will use the proceeds to expand its existing programs and support the build-out of its own AI factories.

• Highlighting the scale of investment flowing into the sector, Blackstone and Alphabet’s AI cloud venture Crux AI secured a $22 billion chip loan, alongside an initial $5 billion equity investment from Blackstone.

• The rapid pace of AI development is also raising concerns, with top industry executives calling for slower advances amid mounting fears the technology could be misused.

• Denver, Colorado-based Crusoe said it has more than $140 billion in total contracted value and over 6 gigawatts of contracted capacity, with 1 GW already operational.

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)