CoreWeave Asks Texas Governor-Elect Hinojosa to Work With It on Data Centre Projects

Bloomberg reported the letter on Saturday. Its two pages, dated November 7 and signed by co-founder and chief executive Michael Intrator, were posted on X by Axios reporter Ashley Gold, according to FourWeekMBA, which published the letter's contents.

The letter matters because Texas is central to the US build-out of AI computing capacity, and CoreWeave has been one of the companies most exposed to Hinojosa's victory. Its shares fell about 7% in after-hours trading after the Democrat beat Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, GuruFocus reported, while Nebius Group and Oracle each fell about 4% in overnight trading. Some of CoreWeave's bonds hit new lows after the election, according to Bloomberg.

Hinojosa has called for a halt to new data centre projects until protections are in place for the state's electricity supply, water resources and local communities. She takes office in January, and there is no statewide moratorium in force.

The tone of Intrator's letter is conciliatory. "You have made clear that data center growth must work for Texans," it says, summarising her positions as including that "communities should have a voice" and that "households should not be left paying for new infrastructure." The letter adds: "We strongly support those principles."

CoreWeave also said it had "welcomed your clarification that currently permitted data center projects will be allowed to be completed," describing that as "a clear starting point for working together on the standards that will govern future development." That sentence goes to the open question for investors: whether any pause Hinojosa pursues would reach projects already under way. GuruFocus noted earlier in the week that it was unclear how current projects would be affected.

The company used the letter to answer the main local objections to data centres. On grid costs, it said that "we fund the infrastructure required for that connection." On water, it said its facilities "will also use closed-loop liquid cooling systems by design" and that day-to-day water use is "comparable to, or lower than, a commercial office building of similar size."

The letter names six Texas locations with active CoreWeave facilities: Austin, Denton, Dickens County, Plano, Richardson and Round Rock. It does not say how much of the company's capacity sits in the state or which sites are fully permitted. CoreWeave also has a deal to lease computing capacity at Galaxy Digital's Helios facility in West Texas.

CoreWeave is not the only AI infrastructure company with plans in Texas now facing scrutiny. Deutsche Bank has warned that SpaceX's computing plans at its Starbase site in the state could be delayed and cost more because of Hinojosa's stance. FourWeekMBA found no public response from Hinojosa or her transition team to CoreWeave's letter.

The Texas legislature, which Hinojosa wants to pass protections before data centre approvals resume, meets in January. CoreWeave reports third-quarter results on November 10, when analysts are likely to press management on its Texas exposure.