CoreWeave Signs A100 GPU Contracts Extending Into 2029

AI cloud provider CoreWeave signed a contract to rent out Nvidia A100 GPUs into 2029, demonstrating that hardware launched in 2020 remains economically viable nearly nine years later. The company reported record revenue and a $104 billion sales backlog, causing its shares to surge nearly 20% on Wednesday and lifting other AI infrastructure stocks like Micron Technology and Nebius Group.

CoreWeave executives attributed the longevity of older chips to the demand for inference and the compatibility of the A100 with legacy air-cooled data centers, which cannot support the liquid-cooling requirements of newer Blackwell-architecture chips. The company also noted that Nvidia's CUDA software provides essential fungibility for these older units. CEO Mike Intrator stated that pricing for prior-generation SKUs remains at or above previous levels and that demand is expected to exceed supply for years.

This development counters the bear case presented by critics and short sellers, including investor Michael Burry, who argued that hyperscalers understated GPU depreciation by $176 billion. The continued profitability of the A100 supports a $500 billion financing initiative by Nvidia and Wall Street firms to treat compute capacity as an investable asset class, increasing confidence in the return on investment for hyperscalers such as Amazon and Microsoft.