Nvidia to invest $2 billion in neocloud Nebius amid AI data center push

March 11 (Reuters) – Nvidia said on Wednesday it will invest $2 billion in artificial intelligence cloud company Nebius, adding to the leading chipmaker’s growing list of investments in AI firms and data center infrastructure. 

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that Nvidia has agreed to buy shares representing a stake of around 8.3% in Nebius at $94.94 per share. Shares in Nebius, based in Amsterdam but listed on Nasdaq, jumped 13.8% to $109.72 by 1623 GMT.

The world’s most valuable firm is investing heavily in the AI ecosystem and expanding data center infrastructure, including significant investments in companies that are often its customers, raising concerns about circular deals.

Nebius, an Nvidia customer, will deploy more than 5 gigawatts of data center capacity by the end of 2030, the companies said. This represents power equivalent to the needs of more than 4 million U.S. households.

Last year, Nvidia agreed to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of its systems for OpenAI and later announced a $30 billion investment in the startup.

Nebius, along with Coreweave, is among the “neocloud” firms gaining prominence through high-profile deals to supply AI infrastructure to U.S. hyperscalers, including a $17 billion deal with Microsoft, and a $3 billion deal with Meta Platforms.  Unlike larger cloud firms that serve a broad range of industries, neoclouds mostly focus on tech customers and offer capacity tailored for AI technology.

“Nebius is building an AI cloud designed for the agentic era,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement, adding the partnership will scale the cloud firm to meet the surging global demand for intelligence.

The cloud firm reported a sharp jump in capital spending, rising to $2.1 billion in the December quarter from $416 million in the previous year, as it doubles down on capacity expansion.

(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam. Editing by Vijay Kishore, Kirsten Donovan)