Crusoe Abandons $1.25B Plan to Use Boom Turbines
AI data center startup Crusoe has scrapped a $1.25 billion deal to purchase stationary power plant turbines from Boom Supersonic.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Crusoe cancels its plan to utilize power turbines from Boom Supersonic
- The original deal involved 29 units of 42-megawatt turbines totaling $1.25 billion
- Boom intended to use profits from this energy business to fund supersonic jets
- Crusoe's major AI data center campuses in Abilene, Texas, continue development
Denver-based AI data center startup Crusoe, which recently secured $3.9 billion in funding, has officially terminated its plans to deploy a new line of stationary power plants developed by fellow local company Boom Supersonic.
Founded back in 2018 initially as a bitcoin miner running on surplus natural gas from oilfields, Crusoe has evolved into a prominent developer of large-scale AI data centers, featuring a massive campus in Abilene, Texas, that delivers high-performance computing power to OpenAI.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Boom Supersonic, known primarily for developing the Overture supersonic passenger jet, branched out last year to sell stationary natural gas-fired generators adapted from its aircraft engine designs. Its Superpower turbine shares roughly 80 percent of its component parts with the Symphony jet engine.
Crusoe had originally signed on as the launch customer for this new venture, committing to spend $1.25 billion on 29 of Boom's 42-megawatt Superpower turbines, with initial deliveries slated to begin in 2027. However, that agreement has completely fallen through according to Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl.
"The companies are no longer moving forward with the turbine launch partnership."
Blake Scholl
Writing in a post on X on Friday following a congratulatory message regarding Crusoe's recent fundraising round, Scholl noted that the two entities are no longer proceeding with the partnership, though he mentioned that other prospective customers remain in their pipeline. Crusoe subsequently confirmed to TechCrunch that it has ceased doing business with Boom.
Crusoe's initial 1.2-gigawatt data center in Abilene built for Oracle and OpenAI relies primarily on grid power, supplemented by a gas turbine plant strictly for emergency backup. The company is also constructing an additional 900-megawatt data center in Abilene dedicated to Microsoft, which will utilize on-site gas turbines.
Losing its anchor launch customer marks a notable hurdle for Boom Supersonic, which raised $300 million last year specifically to commercialize the stationary power division. The underlying vision was to channel profits from these ground-based generators directly into funding the costly development of the Overture passenger aircraft. While the exponential power demands of AI data centers create lucrative opportunities for energy innovators, shifting infrastructural strategies highlight the volatility of early commercial agreements in this sector.
Source: TechCrunch
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