Microsoft has entered into an agreement worth nearly $20 billion with the Dutch AI company Nebius. Nebius will provide AI infrastructure from a new data center in the US.
Nebius has signed a multi-year contract with Microsoft for the use of AI infrastructure. The capacity will be provided from a new Nebius data center in Vineland, New Jersey. The contract is valued at $19.4 billion. With this, Microsoft buys access to the GPU infrastructure of the Dutch company, which offers full-stack AI through its own cloud.
The capacity will be rolled out during this year and next. The agreement runs until 2031 and is worth $17.4 billion in its current form. However, Microsoft has the option to purchase additional capacity or services, which could increase the value by another two billion dollars.
Faster Growth
Nebius wants to use the agreement to accelerate the growth of its AI cloud activities in 2026. According to CEO Arkady Volozh, the contract not only offers direct economic value but also strengthens Nebius’ position as a supplier to large technology companies and AI laboratories. He expects to announce similar contracts in the future.
Nebius will partially finance the necessary investments for the contract through generated cash flows. Additionally, the company plans debt financing, using the contract as collateral. Thanks to Microsoft’s creditworthiness, Nebius expects favorable terms for this financing. The company is also exploring other financing options to support the planned growth acceleration.
From Yandex to Nebius
Nebius is active in the development of AI infrastructure and offers its own cloud platform tailored to AI workloads. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam and is listed on Nasdaq. The company originates from Yandex N.V, which in turn is a company of Russian origin. However, Yandex and CEO Volozh have turned their backs on Russia. Volozh has publicly condemned the invasion of Ukraine.
The deal with Microsoft is far from the first time Nebius has appeared on the radar of major American players. Just last year, Nvidia, among others, invested $700 million in the company to support its expansion plans.