Cloudflare, Cipher and Groq Target AI Infrastructure Boom

Cloudflare Expands Into Creator–AI Data Infrastructure

Cloudflare shares held steady after the company detailed plans to acquire Human Native, an AI data marketplace working with technology and media players including Google’s DeepMind and Figma. The deal is intended to push Cloudflare further into the intersection between AI developers and content creators by giving it a platform where data used to train AI models can be discovered, valued and managed. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cloudflare said the acquisition supports a broader goal of allowing creators to control how their work is found and monetized in an AI‑driven internet. Chief executive Matthew Prince framed the move as part of building a more sustainable economic model for online content, where creators have clearer ways to be compensated when their material is used in AI systems. Human Native brings experience in managing creator–AI relationships at scale, which Cloudflare aims to integrate into its existing network and security platform.

Founded in 2024, Human Native positions itself as an AI data marketplace that works directly with large model developers and design platforms. By embedding this capability, Cloudflare seeks to move beyond infrastructure for content delivery and security into powering the data supply chains that support AI training and inference. The company has not released a timeline for closing or integrating the deal.

Cipher Mining Turns From Bitcoin to High‑Performance Computing

Cipher Mining, historically a Bitcoin miner, has shifted its strategy toward high‑performance computing (HPC) and AI data centers, while still relying on mining for its current revenue. Over the first three quarters of 2025, Cipher generated $164.2 million in revenue, all from Bitcoin mining, but it has already secured long‑term contracts tied to AI workloads that are not yet reflected in its financials.

In September 2025, Cipher announced a 10‑year HPC colocation agreement with AI cloud platform Fluidstack, initially worth about $3 billion, with two five‑year extension options that could raise the total value to approximately $7 billion. In November, the two companies signed an additional AI hosting agreement worth roughly $830 million, or around $2 billion including extensions. Cipher also signed a 15‑year lease agreement with Amazon Web Services to provide turnkey space and power for AI workloads, valued at about $5.5 billion.

Cipher’s stock is up 255% over the past year and trades at 32 times trailing sales as of January 12, 2026. Lease payments under the AWS agreement are expected to begin in August 2026, and payments under the expanded Fluidstack deal are slated to start in October. Each agreement could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, positioning Cipher as a significant infrastructure provider to AI cloud platforms.

Groq Considers Selling GroqCloud After Nvidia Deal

AI chip startup Groq is exploring a sale of its cloud business, GroqCloud, as it reassesses its focus following a major licensing agreement with Nvidia. According to Bloomberg, the company has hired a financial adviser and started contacting potential buyers. A deal for GroqCloud could be valued at $1 billion or more, though Groq declined to comment on the report.

GroqCloud lets developers rent access to Groq’s AI hardware via subscription plans, providing turnkey infrastructure for running inference workloads without owning chips. People familiar with discussions said potential buyers could include large language model developers and publicly traded semiconductor firms looking to strengthen their AI capabilities. The sales process comes shortly after Nvidia struck a non‑exclusive licensing deal with Groq in late December, valued at roughly $20 billion and focused on inference technology.

As part of that agreement, Groq founder Jonathan Ross, president Sunny Madra and other team members joined Nvidia, signaling a closer alignment between the two companies. The prospective divestiture of GroqCloud would mark a strategic shift away from operating a retail‑style cloud service toward concentrating on licensed inference technology in partnership with larger industry players.

Replit’s $400 Million Raise Underscores Investor Demand for AI Coding Tools

Investor appetite for AI‑driven developer tools remains strong, highlighted by Replit’s plan to raise $400 million in new funding at a valuation of about $9 billion, according to Bloomberg. The San Francisco‑based company last raised $250 million in September at a $3 billion valuation, backed by Alphabet’s AI Futures Fund, Amex Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.

The latest round is being led by Georgian, a Toronto‑based venture firm. Replit builds AI‑powered coding agents that help developers write, test and deploy software more quickly, putting it in direct competition with offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as Cursor, which is widely used internally at Nvidia. Google has said Replit is demonstrating what is possible with AI agents and plans to work with the company to build enterprise developer tools powered by its Gemini models.

Replit also recently launched mobile apps for iOS and Android that allow users to describe an app in natural language and have it built and published automatically. The scale of the planned funding round, and the sharp step‑up in valuation, underline how investor capital is flowing not only into AI infrastructure providers like Cipher, Groq and Cloudflare’s new acquisition, but also into application‑layer platforms aimed at transforming how software is created.