Core Scientific’s AMD warrant lock turns 529 MW of ex-crypto capacity into an AMD-equity-aligned AI landlord bet

The load-bearing change isn’t just that Core Scientific signed a long-term AI infrastructure agreement with AMD—it’s that AMD’s consideration includes a warrant that vests per megawatt of critical IT capacity delivered.

In the SEC filing describing the arrangement, Core Scientific grants AMD a warrant for up to 30,000,000 shares with an $23.47 exercise price, with shares vesting at 12,222 shares per 1 MW of critical IT load contemplated by the leases. The warrant was issued in connection with leases executed July 27, 2026, and it terminates July 27, 2031.

This is the economic hinge. Capacity providers traditionally sell power/space and absorb utilization risk. Here, the chip customer’s equity upside is mechanically linked to whether the infrastructure actually comes online under the deal’s terms—making Core Scientific’s AI buildout partially “AMD-underwritten.”

The headline 529 MW comes from a split of “critical IT capacity” between two sets of leases described in the SEC documentation: 377 MW associated with AMD Leases and 152 MW associated with Neocloud Leases, totaling 529 MW. That total aligns with the warrant’s MW-based vesting formula (12,222 shares per MW).

Separately, the partnership description states AMD will secure up to 2.5 gigawatts of data center capacity, with more than 500 MW beginning in 2027 and an opportunity to scale up to 2.5 GW.

Under a supply-chain lens, the sequence tends to be: (1) chip vendor locks compute-ready infrastructure; (2) infrastructure operator schedules physical delivery and IT-load readiness; (3) AI cloud/neocloud tenants monetize GPU deployments; (4) data center ecosystems validate the economics and expand.

This deal is meaningful because it makes step (2)—delivery of critical IT load—explicitly value-driving for AMD through warrant vesting. That is a sharper incentive than standard “we will provide capacity” contracting.

Financially, Core Scientific has been operating under significant distress signals and negative profitability in recent years.

For example, Core Scientific’s reported annual revenue was $319.0M in FY2025, with FY2025 net income of -$288.6M, and FY2025 operating cash flow of $278.3M against capital expenditures of -$729.0M, resulting in negative free cash flow for the year. Those fundamentals matter because an AI infrastructure landlord model only works if contracted critical IT load improves utilization and stabilizes cash generation over time.

A key nuance: the SEC warrant mechanics are deterministic per MW, but the real-world ramp (power readiness, IT load readiness, and tenant deployments) determines whether those MW translate into revenue stability. The warrant aligns AMD’s incentives with delivery, but it doesn’t eliminate operational execution risk for Core Scientific.

Core Scientific’s AMD agreement is not just another AI lease. It is a delivery-to-equity mechanism: AMD receives a warrant that vests with MW delivered, creating a structural alignment between the chip buyer and the infrastructure operator.

If the initial critical IT load (529 MW across AMD + Neocloud lease contexts) converts into sustained AI utilization and supports scale toward up to 2.5 GW, Core Scientific’s role can shift from a distressed crypto survivor to a more durable AI landlord.

Conversely, if execution or ramp delays prevent delivery-based vesting from turning into steady contracted revenue, the warrant linkage may not be enough to overcome the company’s near-term cash flow constraints.