Apr 04, 2026 | Posted by Dave Young
AI startup Poolside is in discussions with cloud providers, including Google, as it looks to secure a new partner for its Texas data center project. The talks follow the collapse of Poolside’s previous agreement with CoreWeave for the development.
CoreWeave and Poolside reached an agreement in October 2025 to jointly develop a 2GW data center in Texas. Known as Project Horizon, the facility was planned for a 568-acre site, with CoreWeave set to serve as the anchor tenant. The initial phase was expected to deliver 250MW of capacity under a 15-year lease, with plans to scale up to 500MW. Around the same time, reports indicated that Nvidia could invest up to $1 billion in Poolside as part of a broader $2 billion funding round.
However, according to a Financial Times report citing five people familiar with the matter, the partnership with CoreWeave began to unravel late last year after Poolside failed to deploy its first chip cluster within the agreed timeline. A CoreWeave spokesperson said the companies “ultimately chose to pursue different paths for their own strategic and timing reasons. Demand for AI infrastructure remains relentless… Poolside is an innovative company, and we remain open to working together.” The FT also reported that Poolside struggled in its fundraising efforts, failing to համոզce investors it could train AI models at the same level as more established competitors.
As a result, the AI startup has turned to other cloud providers, including Google, in an effort to revive its Texas project. The discussions are reportedly focused on securing commitments to support the development of up to 400MW of capacity. However, the Financial Times notes that, according to a source familiar with the matter, Google is no longer in talks with Poolside.
