In a bid to further its strategic shift towards AI-driven data center operations, Core Scientific is set to raise $3.3 billion through a high-yield bond sale. This move is driven by the surging demand for AI services, which has put a strain on data centers, power supply, and advanced chip capabilities, prompting firms to explore riskier debt market segments for funding. Core Scientific, having previously divested $175 million in bitcoin, is now building six data centers tailored to support AI workloads, with CoreWeave securing a 12-year lease that could generate around $10 billion in revenue.
This development follows a series of large-scale deals, including Google-backed data centers and CoreWeave, which collectively raised $6.7 billion. Core Scientific intends to utilize the proceeds to repay existing debt, bolster its reserves, and support construction projects across multiple states, underscoring the capital-intensive nature of AI infrastructure development.
The company, which has undergone significant transformation since its founding in 2017 and emergence from reorganization in January 2024, now holds less than 1,000 bitcoin. Its pivot from bitcoin mining to AI hosting is largely driven by the pursuit of more profitable margins, as the bitcoin mining industry faces challenges such as high power costs and declining block rewards.