Nebius and Meta Forge $3 Billion AI Infrastructure Pact as Cloud Demands Redefine the Market

In a deal that underscores the accelerating race to build the backbone of artificial intelligence, Nebius Group has signed a $3 billion, five-year agreement with Meta to supply advanced AI infrastructure — marking a major moment for one of the fastest-rising companies in global cloud computing.

The announcement came as Nebius reported a more than fourfold rise in third-quarter revenue to $146.1 million, even as it posted a quarterly loss exceeding $100 million, widening from $39.7 million a year earlier. Investors reacted cautiously: shares fell more than 3% in early trading despite the revenue surge, reflecting concerns about heavy capital spending and near-term profitability.

Capital expenditures ballooned to nearly $1 billion in the third quarter, up from just $172 million a year ago, as the company accelerates its acquisition of data centers, GPUs, and power capacity. “We are scaling at a pace dictated by demand, not caution,” one Nebius executive told analysts during the earnings call.

Founded in Amsterdam, Nebius belongs to a new class of neocloud providers — specialized firms offering AI compute capacity through access to Nvidia processors and other high-performance systems. These companies, including rival CoreWeave, have become crucial in addressing the global shortage of GPU infrastructure that has slowed the rollout of generative AI models worldwide.

The Meta contract follows a $17.4 billion deal Nebius signed with Microsoft earlier this year, positioning the company as an indispensable link between the semiconductor industry and hyperscale cloud operators. Together, the two partnerships anchor Nebius at the intersection of technology, finance, and infrastructure — the emerging frontier of the AI economy.

For Meta, the agreement represents another step in its aggressive expansion into AI computing. The company has been building vast data infrastructure to train models that rival OpenAI and Google DeepMind, and Nebius’ role will be to deliver the raw computing capacity required to sustain that effort.

“The scale of this partnership speaks volumes about the pressure the industry is under,” said Emma Harlow, an analyst at Archon Intelligence Research. “Even the largest tech firms can’t meet AI demand internally anymore — they’re now competing for external capacity.”

Nebius is targeting between $7 and $9 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026, up from $551 million as of September. To meet that goal, the company plans to deploy the full infrastructure required for Meta’s contract within three months — an extraordinary pace that underscores both opportunity and risk.

Analysts have warned that Nebius’ expansion is capital-intensive and could test its financial stability if the AI investment cycle cools. Yet for now, few see signs of slowing. The global market for AI infrastructure — from GPUs and power grids to cloud-scale data centers — is expanding faster than traditional technology segments, attracting both private equity and sovereign wealth investment.

While Nvidia remains the industry’s cornerstone, secondary players like Nebius and CoreWeave have emerged as vital suppliers powering the new era of machine learning. “These firms are no longer niche — they’re part of the digital backbone,” said David Ashmore of Westbridge Capital. “They are the ones quietly running the engines of the AI economy.”

Nebius’ rise also reflects a deeper structural shift in how value is created in the technology sector. The company’s partnerships with Meta and Microsoft effectively turn AI computing into a new commodity — traded, financed, and scaled like energy or infrastructure.

For investors, the challenge now is understanding how fast the AI economy can realistically expand — and whether firms like Nebius can sustain their blistering growth without burning through cash.

Still, the trend is clear: artificial intelligence is no longer an abstract promise. It has become a physical industry — built on processors, servers, and the capital to power them. And as Nebius helps define this new market, it stands as both a beneficiary and a symbol of the next phase in global technological investment.