David Tepper’s hedge fund Appaloosa Management has opened a new position in CoreWeave joining the growing group of institutional investors backing companies at the heart of the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom, according to a report by SimplyWallSt.

The investment gives CoreWeave another high-profile hedge fund shareholder as investors increasingly look beyond AI chip designers towards the cloud and data-centre infrastructure needed to support the rapid expansion of AI workloads.

CoreWeave, a US cloud infrastructure provider focused on AI computing, has a market capitalisation of about $58.1bn. Its business centres on providing the computing capacity required by large AI models and other demanding workloads.

Appaloosa’s new position offers a further indication that institutional investors are paying closer attention to the infrastructure layer of the AI ecosystem, rather than concentrating solely on semiconductor companies.

The investment comes as CoreWeave pursues an aggressive expansion programme backed by substantial debt and equity financing. The company has raised more than $30bn so far this year, while a $2.6bn delayed-draw term loan closed on 10 August.

That funding has enabled CoreWeave to continue building out its infrastructure and meet demand for AI computing capacity, but it has also increased investor focus on the company’s cash position and ability to convert its contracted backlog into revenue.