In what appears to be a match made in heaven, bitcoin mining giants are helping out AI.
Core Scientific, a crypto veteran who has been in the industry since 2017, claims that he has transitioned into becoming one of AI’s energy czars since 2019.
Their secret plan burst into the open this week with a jaw-dropping announcement: a $3.5 billion, 12-year pact with CoreWeave, an Nvidia-backed AI cloud giant. Core will funnel 200 megawatts of power into CoreWeave’s machine-learning empire, a far cry from its Bitcoin beginnings
Core believes sees this as a massive comeback after crawling its way out of bankruptcy as a result of the crypto crash of 2022.
According to company CEO Adam Sullivan, their bitcoin mining facilities have now become “power shells” that are perfectly capable of feeding AI. Mind you, Core Scientific isn’t alone. Bit Digital and Hut 8 are two other cryptocurrency giants who have since started repurposing their massive buildings to meet AI needs.
While AI tasks are more capital intensive, the rewards are much greater with lower risk.
There are plenty of factors that have forced these former cryptocurrency stalwarts to pivot. But, the most recent halving event is considered the biggest reason.
As the world becomes more reliant on AI, its need for power will only grow.
If you ask OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, however, a solution already exists in the form of nuclear power.