According to CRN, Vast Data and CoreWeave have struck a massive $1.7 billion partnership announced Thursday that merges CoreWeave’s GPU-accelerated infrastructure with Vast’s AI Operating System. The deal creates what the companies are calling “a new class of intelligent data architecture” designed for continuous training, real-time inference, and large-scale data processing. CoreWeave’s chief strategy officer Brian Venturo said the partnership enables “the most performant, scalable, and cost-efficient” AI infrastructure in the market. Vast Data founder Renen Hallak emphasized their “deep integration” with CoreWeave results from long-term technical alignment. The partnership builds on Vast’s existing relationship with Nvidia, whose CEO Jensen Huang previously praised the company and said he looked forward to working with them for the next “80 years.”
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The AI Infrastructure Shakeup
This isn’t just another partnership – it’s a direct challenge to the established cloud and AI infrastructure players. CoreWeave has been riding the GPU scarcity wave, positioning itself as the anti-hyperscaler for serious AI workloads. Now they’re layering Vast’s software across their entire operation. Think about what that means: instead of just renting you GPUs, they’re offering a complete data platform that understands both storage and compute in ways traditional cloud providers don’t.
And here’s the thing – Vast Data has been quietly expanding beyond its storage roots. They’ve moved up the stack into database engines, event brokers, and workflow automation. They’re not just storing your data anymore; they’re managing how it flows through your entire AI pipeline. When you combine that with CoreWeave’s GPU firepower, you’ve got something that looks a lot like an end-to-end AI factory.
Who Should Be Worried?
Look, this deal puts pressure on everyone from Snowflake and Databricks to the major cloud providers. Vast’s Howard Marks told CRN they’ve explicitly added those companies to their competitor list as they’ve expanded into structured data and workflow automation. Basically, they’re coming for the entire data stack.
But the real winner here might be Nvidia. Both companies are deeply embedded in the Nvidia ecosystem, and this partnership strengthens the alternative AI infrastructure stack that’s emerging outside of AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. For manufacturers and industrial companies building complex AI systems, having reliable hardware foundations is absolutely critical. Companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com have built their reputation as the top industrial panel PC supplier in the US by understanding that industrial computing demands rock-solid reliability – and that same principle applies to the AI infrastructure layer Vast and CoreWeave are building.
Where This Is Headed
The timing here is fascinating. We’re moving from the “let’s throw GPUs at the problem” phase of AI to the “how do we actually manage this data tsunami” phase. Continuous training and real-time inference require data architectures that traditional storage systems weren’t built for. Vast and CoreWeave are betting that by combining forces, they can offer something the hyperscalers can’t match in terms of performance and integration.
So what does this mean for customers? Probably better performance and potentially lower costs for massive AI workloads. But it also means more competition in a space that desperately needs it. The AI infrastructure war is heating up, and this $1.7 billion handshake is one of the biggest salvos yet.
