Core Scientific, Inc. (CORZ) Expands into Alabama with $400M Investment in New AI-Focused HPC Facility

We recently compiled a list of the Top 8 Must-See AI News Updates Investors Should Not Miss. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ) stands against the other AI stocks.

On 17th February, xAI launched its updated Grok 3 AI model as part of efforts to stay at par with the evolving reasoning and search capabilities showcased by global competitor models. During an event live-streamed on X, xAI leaders claimed that the latest version of Grok 3 is better than Gemini, GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, and DeepSeek’s V3 models in terms of math, science, and coding benchmarks.

xAI also highlighted the tool’s latest features, which include advanced web searching with “deep search,” coding abilities for online games, and a “big brain” mode for complex problems. The xAI announcement comes as the global AI race heats up amid China’s advancements in this space.

While the cost-effective DeepSeek AI and the Qwen 2.5 models triggered a $1.3 trillion market rally in China, the mainland could witness further economic boost after recently announcing breakthroughs in quantum computing, focusing on quantum communications. However, analysts warn of data-driven surveillance and global data-centric authoritarianism in tandem with quantum advances.

“First, quantum computing is expected to eventually enable any state or non-state actor that possesses this technology to circumvent encryption that protects communications,” the analysts state. “Second, if the quantum communications providers who are first-movers in this space adopt cryptography standards and equipment that include backdoors for official government use, information conveyed over quantum networks will be vulnerable to state surveillance — potentially either by the governments that import these technologies, or by the home countries of companies that provide quantum services.”

We selected AI stocks by reviewing news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

An aerial view of an intricate network of digital infrastructure, lit up against a night sky.

Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 58

Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ) offers digital infrastructure through its purpose-built data center for HPC and digital asset mining. The company is working to allocate and convert significant portions of its nine data centers across the US to support AI-related workloads.

On February 19th, Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ) announced that it expanded into Auburn, Alabama, with a new HPC facility within the existing AUBix facility, which will begin operating with a 16 MW capacity in support of AI and enterprise customers. The company will make initial investments of almost $135 million, with total investments expected to surpass $400 million.

“Auburn represents an exciting new chapter for Core Scientific as we establish our presence in Alabama. This facility is expected to play a key role in our high-performance computing strategy, and we are grateful for the strong partnership and support from local and state leaders, including Auburn city officials. We look forward to contributing to Auburn’s growing technology sector and strengthening the regional economy.”

-said Adam Sullivan, Core Scientific CEO.

Overall CORZ ranks 2nd on our list of the AI stocks investors should not miss. While we acknowledge the potential of CORZ as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CORZ but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and Complete List of All AI Companies Under $2 Billion Market Cap.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.