CoreWeave and Leidos Partner to Build Classified AI Cloud for US Spies
CoreWeave, the AI-cloud company that rents GPUs to the biggest AI labs, is teaming up with contractor Leidos to run its platform inside SCIF-accredited data centers for US intelligence and defense agencies. The collaboration announced on Thursday aims to provide secure, scalable platforms for federal teams to leverage AI.
The Partnership
CoreWeave will place its AI platform within Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs), the sealed rooms where classified intelligence is stored and analyzed. Leidos, with its expertise in secure architecture, cyber operations, and mission integration, will handle the aspects that a commercial cloud provider cannot.
What They Offer
The partnership intends to offer:
- A classified cloud for training and running AI models.
- Tools to help analysts fuse intelligence, exploit imagery, and reach decisions.
- Cyber ranges for war-gaming AI attacks.
- Synthetic data and digital twins for training.
- A link between the central cloud and disconnected, forward-deployed units in the field.
Sachin Jain, CoreWeave’s chief operating officer, stated that their goal is to extend the tools provided to top global AI labs "to highly secure government environments."
The Challenge: Clearance, Not Chips
The primary constraint is not technological but rather clearance. A commercial AI cloud is designed for openness and scalability, with customers accessing clusters over the public internet. Classified work, however, requires the opposite: hardware within facilities cleared for the data, run by cleared staff, and isolated from the public internet.
Leidos, with its substantial scale and expertise, plays a crucial role in bridging this gap. The company reported $17.2 billion in revenue last year and employs over 50,000 people, positioning it to handle the demands of "sovereign AI compute at scale, secure by design."
CoreWeave’s Diversification Need
This federal partnership solves a concentration problem for CoreWeave. The company has experienced explosive growth by renting compute to a handful of giants and reported $2.08 billion in first-quarter revenue. Diversifying its customer base with government agencies offers both stability and new opportunities.