CoreWeave courts Texas governor-elect who vowed to freeze data centers

CoreWeave co-founder and CEO Michael Intrator sent a letter to Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa proposing that the company collaborate with her incoming team on data center projects under construction as well as those still in planning, according to Bloomberg. Intrator told her the company backs her stance that growth has to benefit the state. You have made clear that data center growth must work for Texas, he wrote. We strongly support those principles.

Hinojosa is the first Democrat to win the Texas governorship since 1990, according to Bloomberg. She campaigned on a statewide moratorium on data centers and has since described ways to combine tougher regulation with the state's business-friendly reputation. In an interview Thursday, she said Texas has always been pro-business, but that under her it has to be a partnership that benefits Texans.

Carl Holshouser, who leads government affairs at CoreWeave and co-wrote the letter, said in a LinkedIn post that Hinojosa had made clear projects already holding permits can be completed, according to The Next Web. The outlet found no record of Hinojosa saying that herself, and her team has not explained how a pause would actually be enforced. Holshouser also argued that the cost of new transmission lines and generating plants should not land on families, and that new sites must protect local water and electricity supplies.

Investors flinched fast. CoreWeave's bonds tumbled Wednesday after Hinojosa's win, and the stock dropped 9.9% that day, finishing at $48.42 for its weakest close since May 2025. A CoreWeave spokesperson said the company does not expect any hit to existing customer commitments or the related backlog from the political shift.

Republicans hold the majority in the Texas Legislature, which caps how far Hinojosa can push state policy. CoreWeave's letter aims at that gap, seeking a say in standards for future buildouts before any new rules take shape.