Meta Platforms Inc. will allocate as much as $27 billion over the coming half-decade to secure access to cutting-edge artificial intelligence resources from cloud supplier Nebius Group NV, aggressively ramping up its spending to vie with prominent innovators of sophisticated AI systems.
Nebius, a self-described neocloud provider that manages data centers and maintains a key alliance with Nvidia Corp., will furnish Meta with $12 billion worth of dedicated computational power starting in early 2027, the Dutch firm communicated in a statement this Monday. Moreover, Meta has pledged to procure up to $15 billion in extra capacity that the supplier is constructing for external clients.
This agreement would rank among the most substantial deals ever executed by Meta, and highlights the aspiration of the Facebook and Instagram parent to procure enhanced computing capabilities for advancing AI-driven offerings. Meta previously entered into a separate $3 billion arrangement with Nebius in the preceding year.
Nebius stock increased by 15% in premarket activity. The company concluded trading at $112.95 in New York last Friday, having almost quadrupled in valuation across the preceding year. Meta’s shares also experienced a 2.8% gain prior to market commencement following a close at $613.71.
Meta and other leading technology enterprises are anticipated to expend roughly $650 billion in 2026 on establishing data centers and obtaining infrastructure in anticipation of the swift expansion of the AI services marketplace in the years ahead.
Meta has positioned artificial intelligence as a paramount emphasis for the corporation and is investing considerably to rival entities like OpenAI and Google. Since the commencement of the year, it has also formalized multi-billion dollar collaboration agreements with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to evolve AI infrastructure, while concurrently crafting its bespoke silicon.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously expressed that the organization intends to commit $600 billion to infrastructure initiatives within the United States by 2028. To fund these undertakings, Meta utilizes income from its advertising sector, as well as securing outside capital for infrastructure ventures.
The firm additionally engineers its proprietary advanced AI models and has already conceived several AI-centric products, encompassing a chatbot accessible within diverse Meta applications.
A Meta spokesperson verified the accord with Nebius and indicated that the approach of diversifying partnerships and technologies in the realm of AI constitutes a component of fostering a more robust and adaptable infrastructure.
Nebius, headquartered in Amsterdam, was divested from Russian internet conglomerate Yandex in 2024. It presently stands as one of the emerging companies capitalizing on the AI surge, erecting data centers explicitly tailored to train algorithms and bolster services such as ChatGPT.
Nvidia is proactively deploying its monetary assets to underwrite a fresh cohort of so-called non-cloud vendors that contend with the foremost cloud providers, including Google and Amazon. Last week, Nvidia revealed a $2 billion stake in Nebius, culminating in a 16% ascent in the company's equity.
Nevertheless, certain analysts scrutinize this funding tactic. A substantial fraction of Nvidia’s investments is channeled toward firms that procure its chips, thereby triggering accusations of “captive investments” that may engender a market bubble.
This past January, Nvidia publicized a parallel $2 billion outlay in Nebius competitor CoreWeave to broaden its service offerings. It further allocated $30 billion into OpenAI this year and engaged in a $2 billion financing cycle in British cloud purveyor Nscale.
Source: Bloomberg