CoreWeave正在改写其为人工智能热潮买单的方式，这是根据该公司周二公布的第三季度财报得出的。CoreWeave是一家新云公司，出租人工智能背后的算力。该公司表示，它越来越多地要求客户预付费用，以具体合同为抵押进行借款，甚至寻求可能带来更高价格的短期交易。
CoreWeave is rewriting how it pays for the AI boom, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings, reported on Tuesday. CoreWeave, a neocloud that rents out the computing power behind AI, said it’s increasingly asking customers to pay up front, borrowing against specific contracts, and even pursuing short-term deals that could lead to higher prices.
这些新策略可能帮助CoreWeave更高效地为自身增长融资，同时从现有基础设施中榨取更多现金。但这些押注只有在当前的需求和定价能力持续下去的情况下才能成立。
The new strategies could help CoreWeave finance its growth more efficiently while squeezing more cash from existing infrastructure. But these bets only hold if today’s demand and pricing power continue.
CoreWeave公布营收36.6亿美元，同比增长168%，但同时也录得7.09亿美元净亏损和8.46亿美元季度利息支出。
CoreWeave reported $3.66 billion in revenue, up 168% from the year prior, but it also posted a $709 million net loss and $846 million in quarterly interest expense.
“我们不会以当前的收益率使用无担保债务市场为我们的业务融资，我们也不需要这样做，”CoreWeave首席执行官迈克尔·因特拉托在周二的财报电话会议上表示。
“We will not use the unsecured debt market to fund our business at current yields, nor do we need to,” CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator said during Tuesday’s earnings call.
相反，CoreWeave的计划是依靠以具体客户合同为担保的贷款，根据需要提取资金，为其仍需建设的大部分基础设施提供资金，以交付其1325亿美元的重大积压订单。
Instead, CoreWeave’s plan is to rely on loans backed by specific customer contracts, drawing on funds as needed to finance most of infrastructure it still has to build to deliver on its significant backlog of $132.5 billion.
CoreWeave还表示，预计未来三个月将获得约90亿美元的客户预付款和存款，其中包括超过30亿美元与已建成产能的新客户合同相关，这部分不需要额外的硬件支出。
CoreWeave also said it expects about $9 billion in customer prepayments and deposits over the next three months, including more than $3 billion tied tog new customer contracts for capacity it has already built, which requires no additional spending on hardware.
竞争对手Nebius和IREN也依靠微软的巨额预付款来支付算力费用，这表明行业正转向要求大型科技公司为其扩建买单。
Rivals Nebius and IREN have also relied on hefty Microsoft prepayments to pay for computing capacity, signaling that the industry is moving toward asking Big Tech to pay up for their buildouts.
预付款可以缓解CoreWeave眼前的借款需求，但也使该公司承诺以某个价格提供服务，如果算力需求继续激增，这个价格在未来可能变得不那么有吸引力。
Upfront payments could alleviate CoreWeave’s immediate borrowing needs, but they also commit the company to providing services at a price that might be less attractive down the road if compute demand continues to surge.
CoreWeave还希望通过签订更多能够获得更高价格的短期合同，来利用这种不断增长的需求。
CoreWeave is also looking to capitalize on that growing demand byg more shorter-term contracts that can command much higher prices.
该公司在7月将旗下各项服务的价格上调了约25%，并在该季度晚些时候又上调了10%。因特拉托表示，本季度价格仍在上涨，其幅度“足以抵消成本上涨而有余”。
The company raised prices across its offerings by about 25% in July and by another 10% later in the quarter. Prices are still climbing this quarter, in a way that “more than offset[s] cost increases,” said Intrator.
这位首席执行官说：“我们还在将更多产能分配给短期机会，只要定价能够支撑，我们以每年每兆瓦逾4000万美元的价格出售产能，而四至五年期新基础设施合同的定价正朝着每年每兆瓦2000万至2500万美元移动。”
“We are also allocating more capacity to short-term opportunities, where the pricing justifies it, selling capacity at more than $40 million per megawatt annually, while pricing for new infrastructure on four and five-year contracts is moving to $20 million to $25 million per megawatt,” the chief executive said.
CoreWeave的融资策略如今围绕这些机会展开。8月，该公司完成了一笔26亿美元的贷款，这是其首笔专为较短期限客户合同设计的贷款。该贷款名为DDTL 5.5，允许CoreWeave在需要资金时分期提取。
CoreWeave’s financing strategy now revolves around those opportunities. In August, the company closed a $2.6 billion loan, its first designed specifically for shorter-term customer contracts. Known as DDTL 5.5, it lets CoreWeave borrow in installments as it needs the money.
短期协议让CoreWeave可以收取更高价格并更频繁地调整价格，但这是一种取舍。贷款方更看重较长期合同，即使其定价更低，因为他们最重视可预测的现金流和偿还贷款的一致性。
While short-term deals let CoreWeave charge higher prices and change them more frequently, it’s a tradeoff. Lenders give more weight to longer-term contracts, even if they’re priced lower, because they value predictable cash flow and consistency to repay the loan above all.
尽管华尔街对CoreWeave的财报反应积极，债券投资者却远没有那么乐观。上个月，该公司部分债券的收益率突破15%，凸显出投资者担心，在这些投资获得回报之前，为数据中心建设提供资金所需的债务存在风险。
Even though Wall Street reacted positively to CoreWeave’s earnings, bond investors are much less sanguine. Last month, yields on some of the company’s bonds hit above 15%, highlighting that investors are concerned about the debt needed to fund data center buildouts before those investments see a return.
简而言之，CoreWeave正在寻找不依赖无担保债务的新扩张方式。它选择的策略可能提升利润，但也在合同续约和定价方面带来更大风险——这也恰恰说明，AI基础设施热潮多么依赖持续且迄今尚未得到验证的需求。
In short, CoreWeave is finding new ways to expand without relying on unsecured debt. The strategy it has chosen could boost profits, but it also carries greater risk around contract renewals and pricing — and it just goes to show how dependent the AI infrastructure boom is on sustained, and as yet unproven, demand.
TechCrunch已联系CoreWeave，寻求有关其贷款安排的更多信息。
TechCrunch has reached out to CoreWeave for more information about its loan facility.