TLDRs;
- Crusoe Energy raised $1.4 billion, boosting its valuation to over $10 billion, led by Valor and Mubadala Capital.
- The company operates data centers for OpenAI and Oracle, with major expansion planned in Texas and Wyoming.
- Texas data centers could face grid curtailments under Senate Bill 6 during high-demand periods.
- Crusoe’s hybrid model combines renewables, batteries, and gas turbines to power next-gen AI workloads efficiently.
Crusoe Energy, an AI-focused cloud and energy infrastructure company, has raised $1.4 billion in new funding, propelling its valuation past $10 billion.
The financing marks one of the largest private capital infusions in the AI data center sector this year, underscoring investors’ confidence in Crusoe’s unique energy-efficient model for powering AI workloads.
The funding round was led by Valor Equity Partners and Mubadala Capital, with additional backing from industry giants including Nvidia, Altimeter Capital, BAM Elevate, Founders Fund, Fidelity Management, Salesforce Ventures, and Super Micro Computer. Blue Owl Capital, which already plays a key role in Crusoe’s Texas-based data center complex, is expected to join the round at a later stage.
Founded in 2018, Crusoe has rapidly evolved from a clean energy innovator into a cornerstone player in AI infrastructure, now employing more than 1,000 people across its U.S. operations.
Expanding Texas and Wyoming Campuses
The company plans to channel the fresh capital into hardware acquisitions and workforce expansion, while accelerating construction across its large-scale data centers in Abilene, Texas, and Wyoming. These sites are designed to meet the soaring compute demand from AI companies, particularly OpenAI and Oracle, who are major Crusoe clients.
Crusoe’s 1.2-gigawatt Abilene campus already serves as one of the largest private AI-focused data center facilities in the United States, with plans to add another 1.8 gigawatts in Wyoming. However, the company has not disclosed how much of this capacity is locked under long-term contracts, raising questions about utilization rates and revenue visibility.
Project materials indicate that the Abilene campus will draw power both from the Texas grid and on-site natural gas turbines, a dual-source approach that allows flexibility during energy demand surges. Under Senate Bill 6, the ERCOT grid operator can curtail usage by large data centers exceeding 75 MW during periods of grid stress, a policy that could affect Crusoe’s energy strategies going forward.
The Broader Energy-AI Intersection
Crusoe’s rise reflects a broader shift in how energy and AI infrastructure are converging. As AI workloads grow exponentially, companies are racing to build energy-resilient and sustainable data centers capable of handling petawatt-scale compute needs.
Texas has emerged as a hub for such projects, with Oncor Electric Delivery reporting over 186 gigawatts of pending data center interconnection requests, about 20% of which are deemed high-confidence loads. Independent power producers are actively pursuing partnerships for solar, wind, and battery storage to support this growth.
Crusoe’s Abilene blueprint includes behind-the-meter battery systems, renewable energy integration, and natural gas turbines, offering a hybrid model of reliability and sustainability. Engineering firm Mortenson is reportedly managing Phase 2 of the project, which involves a 1-gigawatt, 345-kilovolt substation with provisions for future battery storage installations.
The AI Compute Arms Race
Crusoe’s expansion comes amid intensifying competition to secure compute capacity for AI training and inference workloads. Reports suggest OpenAI’s $30 billion annual cloud deal with Oracle involves leasing up to 4.5 gigawatts of compute capacity, part of which is expected to route through Crusoe’s Abilene campus.
While financial specifics remain under wraps, Crusoe’s partnership with Nvidia and Oracle signals a deepening alignment between cloud infrastructure providers and chipmakers, each racing to build the backbone of the AI era.
With its new funding, Crusoe positions itself at the intersection of AI innovation and energy transformation, aiming to deliver cleaner, faster, and more reliable compute infrastructure for the world’s largest AI models.
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