From Cornfields to CoreWeave: Applied Digital’s AI Frontier
$7 Billion Deal Cements North Dakota as Ground Zero for the AI Infrastructure Boom

In a defining move for the AI infrastructure landscape, Applied Digital Corporation (Nasdaq: APLD) has announced a monumental lease agreement with CoreWeave, the fast-growing AI Hyperscaler™, to deliver 250 megawatts (MW) of critical IT load at its Ellendale, North Dakota data center campus. This 15-year partnership is expected to generate approximately $7 billion in total revenue for Applied Digital and reshape the future of high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure in the U.S. heartland.
This isn't just another real estate or compute deal—it’s a strategic commitment to power the next era of artificial intelligence. As AI workloads surge in complexity and demand, data centers like Ellendale are rapidly becoming the new energy-hungry factories of the digital economy. Wes Cummins, Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital, positioned the deal as a defining moment for the company, saying these leases “solidify Applied Digital’s position as an emerging provider of infrastructure critical to the next generation of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.”
CoreWeave, a key player in the AI arms race, is known for building out hyperscale capacity tailored to the needs of generative AI and machine learning workloads. With demand showing no signs of slowing, they’ve now locked in capacity at what may become one of North America’s most important data campuses. The deal also includes an option for an additional 150 MW of critical load, underscoring both companies’ confidence in Ellendale’s long-term potential and scalability.
