Cully Cavness, co-founder, president, and COO of Crusoe, shares the company’s journey from Bitcoin mining to being a leader in AI infrastructure. He discusses their pivotal role in Project Stargate, focusing on a groundbreaking 1.2 gigawatt data center in Abilene, Texas. Cully highlights the impact of energy strategies on AI advancements, and his insights on climate initiatives using digital flare mitigation. The conversation also touches on the evolving landscape of energy consumption and the opportunities for workforce development in tech-related trades.
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Crusoe's Origin and Evolution
Crusoe evolved from Bitcoin mining using flared natural gas to building hyperscale AI data centers.
The name reflects resourcefulness with scarce resources, inspired by Robinson Crusoe's story.
insights INSIGHT
Pivoting Requires Bold Bets
Crusoe's success required making existential bets without 100% certainty and strong intuition.
Pivoting from Bitcoin to GPUs to data centers was capital intensive and risky but essential for growth.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Bitcoin Business Sale to NYDIG
Crusoe sold its Bitcoin mining business to NYDIG, transferring 135 team members.
This allowed Crusoe to focus fully on vertically integrated AI infrastructure.
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The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
Al Gore
This book, released in conjunction with the film of the same name, presents a comprehensive look at global warming. It combines leading-edge research, photographs, charts, and personal anecdotes to document the rapid and widespread impacts of global warming. Gore explains the causes and effects of global warming in clear terms, highlighting the urgent need for action to mitigate its detrimental consequences. The book is designed to be accessible and educational, using easy-to-grasp graphics and revealing before-and-after photos to illustrate the climate crisis[1][2][4].
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
The novel follows Robinson Crusoe, a young and impulsive Englishman, who ignores his parents' advice and sets out to sea. After a series of misadventures, including being captured by pirates and sold into slavery, he is eventually shipwrecked on a deserted island near the coast of Venezuela. There, he spends 28 years surviving against incredible odds, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers. The story is influenced by real-life castaways such as Alexander Selkirk and blends elements of Puritan spiritual autobiography, travel literature, and adventure stories. It is considered one of the first modern novels in the English language and explores themes of ambition, self-reliance, civilization, and power.
Cully Cavness is the co-founder, president, and COO of Crusoe, an energy-first AI infrastructure company.
In this live episode recorded in Austin, Texas, Cully shares how Crusoe evolved from capturing flared gas for Bitcoin mining to becoming a leading developer of hyperscale data centers. He discusses the company’s pivotal role in Project Stargate—a $500B AI infrastructure effort led by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle—and how Crusoe is building a 1.2 gigawatt data center campus in Abilene, Texas. Cully reflects on the decision to divest its original Bitcoin business, the company’s vertical integration strategy, and how energy abundance will shape the future of AI.
Thanks to our sponsors for this event: Gunderson Dettmer, and J.P. Morgan.
In this episode, we cover:
[00:24] An overview of Crusoe
[01:08] Its role in Project Stargate and Abilene data center
[03:41] Shift from outbound to inbound interest
[06:17] Company pivots and existential startup bets
[09:09] Sale of Bitcoin mining business to NYDIG
[11:40] Flared gas capture and climate impact overview
[14:57] From digital flare mitigation to stranded wind use
[17:27] Cully’s personal energy background and worldview
[22:14] Why AI could drive climate and fusion breakthroughs
[25:47] Details of the 1.2 GW Abilene campus for Oracle
[36:42] 3,500 skilled trades supporting data center build
[44:42] Natural gas as a bridge fuel + CCS investments
Episode recorded on June 10, 2025 (Published on June 17, 2025)
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Inevitable 
