"AI Cloud Duo" CoreWeave and Nebius Post Strong Results! Compute Rental Prices Surge, Short-Term Contract Premiums Significant

AI compute supply is falling short of demand, with rental prices hitting record highs. Nebius's first Blackwell chip auction closed 15% above the previous all-time high, while CoreWeave announced a blanket 25% price increase in July. Short-term contract premiums are particularly notable, with Nebius's annualized contract value per megawatt surpassing $40 million. The logic is that customers requiring "immediately available" compute must pay a premium for scarcity.