CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) CEO Michael Intrator has forcefully rejected allegations that his company is engaged in “circular financing” with Nvidia Corp.(NASDAQ:NVDA), describing the narrative as “ridiculous” and mathematically unsound.

Check out CRWV’s stock price here.

‘Ridiculous’ Narrative

In a recent appearance on the Big Technology Podcast, Intrator argued that Nvidia's minority stake in the specialized cloud provider is “de minimis” compared to CoreWeave’s massive capital scale, dismissing the concerns as a distraction akin to a “fly on the b*** of the elephant.”

The controversy centers on claims that Nvidia invested in CoreWeave to artificially boost demand for its own chips—effectively paying CoreWeave to buy its products. Intrator dismantled this theory by highlighting the sheer scale of CoreWeave's operations versus Nvidia’s investment.

While acknowledging Nvidia has invested approximately $300 million across two rounds, Intrator noted that CoreWeave has raised over $25 billion in total capital and holds a valuation of $42 billion.

“I’m pretty sure that they don’t think of their investment of $300 million as the secret sauce to standing up the largest company in the world,” Intrator said. He emphasized that the relationship is driven by a “systemically imbalanced market” where demand for compute vastly outstrips supply, not financial engineering.

‘Box’ Strategy

Intrator also addressed concerns regarding CoreWeave’s aggressive use of debt to fuel its rapid expansion. He detailed the company's use of special purpose vehicles—or “boxes”—to ring-fence risk.

Under this structure, revenue from investment-grade contracts, such as those with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) or Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), flows directly into a restricted account.

This capital pays off operating expenses and lenders first before releasing any profit to CoreWeave. Intrator defended the model as a standard, low-risk approach to infrastructure building, comparable to constructing power plants or railroads.

Defying Depreciation Fears

Addressing skepticism about the longevity of AI hardware, Chief Strategy Officer Brian Venturo revealed that the company recently renewed a contract for older Nvidia A100 chips at 95% of their original value.

Despite the release of newer, more powerful chips, CoreWeave executives argue that the “depreciation narrative” is flawed.

They cite long-term contracts from sophisticated hyperscalers as proof that older hardware remains economically vital for years, debunking the idea that AI chips become obsolete in just three years.

CRWV Underperforms Over Last 6 Months

CoreWeave shares have fallen by 39.46% in the last six months; however, it was up 100.35% in the last year. Year-to-date, CRWV advanced 8.41% in 2026.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that CRWV maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms. Additional information is available here.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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