Observed Signal · Sep 25, 2026 · Partnership · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Negative
Crusoe abandons $1.25B Boom turbine deal for AI data centers
Crusoe, a Denver-based AI data center startup, has abandoned a $1.25 billion agreement to purchase 29 of Boom Supersonic's 42-megawatt Superpower natural gas turbines. The deal, announced last year, positioned Crusoe as Boom's launch customer for its stationary power plant business. Boom CEO Blake Scholl confirmed the termination in a social media post, noting that turbines are no longer part of Crusoe's near-term power mix. A Crusoe spokesperson cited the need for flexible energy solutions as the reason. The company's Abilene campuses for OpenAI and Oracle are grid-powered, while a Microsoft campus uses on-site gas turbines. Losing the launch customer is a setback for Boom, which raised $300 million in 2025 largely to commercialize this business.
The termination of a significant turbine supply deal impacts the AI data center infrastructure and energy supply landscape, but is not directly core to the digital advertising industry.
Track OpenAI Signals & Market Shifts in Real-Time
Polaris7 autonomous intelligence agents track regulatory filings, primary sources, executive changes, and deal flow 24/7. Create your free Explorer workspace to monitor these entities.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Crusoe terminates $1.25B turbine purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic.
- Agreement covered 29 units of Boom's 42-megawatt Superpower turbines.
- First deliveries were planned for 2027.
- Boom CEO Blake Scholl cited Crusoe's power mix shift.
- Boom targets 250MW Superpower deliveries next year and 1GW by 2028.
Connected Companies & Entities
3 Entities mapped“Crusoe's massive campus in Abilene, Texas, supplies computing power to OpenAI....”
“Crusoe's initial 1.2 gigawatt data center in Abilene was built for Oracle and OpenAI....”
“Crusoe is also building a 900 megawatt data center in Abilene for Microsoft....”
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Crusoe raises $3B at $30B valuation
Crusoe, a vertically integrated U.S. neocloud AI data center developer, has raised $3.9 billion in a Series F funding round, making it the most equity-backed private neocloud and boosting its post-money valuation to $30.9 billion. The oversubscribed round was co-led by Atreides Management, Mubadala Capital, and Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Founders Fund, GIC, Nvidia, QIA, Radical Ventures, and TPG. Crusoe, which pivoted from Bitcoin mining to GPU-as-a-Service, serves customers including Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and Jane Street. The funds will expand its modular 'AI factories' (Spark) and support projects like the Abilene, Texas campus for OpenAI's Stargate initiative. It recently signed a $13 billion five-year AI cloud contract with Jane Street and reports over $140 billion in total contracted value. Crusoe is exploring an IPO with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and has added Thomas Seifert, Bill Stein, and JB Straubel to its board.
Crusoe on Track for $2B Revenue Amid Data Center Backlash
Crusoe, a data center builder and cloud provider, is on track for $2 billion in revenue this year, according to financials obtained by Newcomer. The company recently raised $3.9 billion at a $30.9 billion valuation, led by Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, and Mubadala. CEO Chase Lochmiller believes better marketing can quell the political uproar against data centers. The article highlights the contradiction of the AI industry's rapid growth and its uncertain future, as public backlash against data centers builds.
Anthropic Buys xAI's Colossus 1 Compute Capacity
Anthropic and xAI announced a deal in which Anthropic will take over all compute capacity at xAI’s Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee. TechCrunch hosts discussed the move as evidence that xAI (an AI subsidiary of SpaceX) is shifting from training frontier models toward renting out GPU capacity — a so‑called “neocloud” business — as SpaceX prepares for a public offering and reportedly plans to dissolve xAI as a separate entity. Commentators argued the deal could be a short‑term stabilizing revenue play but may undermine xAI’s positioning as an innovative frontier lab. The report also notes xAI is facing an environmental lawsuit related to Colossus 1 operations.
Track Real-Time Market Signals & Shifts
Set up custom watchlists to receive automated, evidence-grounded executive digests whenever material signals or shifts occur across your tracked landscape.
