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.
What makes Ellendale unique is its sheer ambition. Designed to eventually scale up to 1 gigawatt of capacity, the North Dakota campus is purpose-built for high-density compute environments. It’s engineered to support lightning-fast deployment timelines and maximize energy efficiency—key factors as energy consumption becomes a central challenge for AI infrastructure. From its rural location, Ellendale taps into abundant low-cost power, which is increasingly being seen as the new currency of the data center age.
Applied Digital expects the first 100 MW facility for CoreWeave to go live in Q4 of 2025. A second, larger 150 MW structure is already under construction and is slated for mid-2026. A third building—also at 150 MW—is currently in the planning phase and, if exercised, would bring CoreWeave’s total footprint on the campus to a staggering 400 MW. That’s not just infrastructure planning; it’s laying the groundwork for an AI megabase.
Cummins said Ellendale “is more than a development project — it’s a launchpad for the future of AI infrastructure.” That language isn’t hyperbole. In an era where major tech firms are racing to out-build each other in compute capacity, access to reliable, scalable infrastructure is fast becoming the critical differentiator. CoreWeave’s decision to lock in a long-term lease at Ellendale signals their confidence in Applied Digital’s vision—and their own aggressive growth path.
Applied Digital, for its part, has positioned itself to ride the coming AI wave. The company is not only building data centers but designing them from the ground up to support HPC, AI/ML, blockchain, and GPU-as-a-Service workloads. The Ellendale campus is just one piece of a broader strategy to enable what Cummins calls “AI Factories,” a term that captures the convergence of software, hardware, and energy into one high-output digital engine.
The lease agreements mark a milestone for Applied Digital. But perhaps more importantly, they point to a broader shift taking place across the digital infrastructure landscape. The days of generic data centers are numbered. In their place, specialized, power-dense, and high-throughput facilities like Ellendale are becoming essential to meet the needs of the new compute order.
North Dakota, once known primarily for its agricultural and fossil energy base, is now on the verge of becoming a key node in America’s digital backbone. It’s no accident that CoreWeave—backed by powerful investors and riding the momentum of the AI revolution—chose Ellendale as its next base of operations. The region offers not only the space and power capacity but also the regulatory and logistical freedom to deploy rapidly, at scale.
If successful, Ellendale won’t just support AI infrastructure—it will help define what the future of AI infrastructure looks like. Power is the new oil. Compute is the new gold. And companies like Applied Digital and CoreWeave are racing to drill and mine as fast as they can. This deal is less about today’s capacity and more about tomorrow’s capability.
The bottom line? Applied Digital’s $7 billion agreement with CoreWeave isn’t just a win for both companies—it’s a major inflection point for the entire high-performance computing sector. As AI models grow more complex, energy-hungry, and geographically dispersed, the need for custom-tailored, scalable data center infrastructure has never been more urgent. And with Ellendale, Applied Digital has not only recognized that reality—it’s acted on it.
Conclusion
In the world of AI infrastructure, few announcements carry the weight and scope of Applied Digital’s new lease with CoreWeave. This isn’t just about megawatts—it’s about megatrends. It’s about meeting the demands of a digital revolution that’s already here. Ellendale is no longer just a name on the map of North Dakota; it’s ground zero for the next generation of intelligent computing. Applied Digital has secured not just a client, but a long-term partner in CoreWeave, and with this deal, the company has firmly planted its flag in the high-stakes, high-reward terrain of AI and HPC infrastructure. The future is being built—one megawatt at a time.