Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS), has introduced a new business model allowing infrastructure partners to deploy its full-stack AI cloud platform directly inside their own data centers.

This strategic shift aims to rapidly scale the company’s computing capacity to meet surging global demand without requiring massive capital expenditures for physical properties.

Under this asset-light framework, outside partners will completely finance, own, and operate the data centers and physical hardware. In exchange, Nebius will supply its proprietary systems architecture, hardware design, supply-chain access, and full-stack AI cloud software. Nebius also remains responsible for managing the software layers and maintaining overall service levels, while utilizing its global sales organization to connect the partner-owned capacity directly to its customers.

A Mutual Strategy for Scale

This collaborative approach offers distinct advantages for both sides. For Nebius, it accelerates infrastructure expansion with minimal incremental capital, allowing the company to continuously build out its customer offerings. For partners, which could range from data center developers and infrastructure investors to national AI programs, it offers a fast, high-margin route into the booming AI cloud market. By utilizing Nebius’s established platform and pipeline, partners can monetize their raw capacity and generate immediate returns rather than struggling to secure their own customer base or draft conventional wholesale bare-metal contracts.

The partner-owned facilities will integrate seamlessly into Nebius’s existing network of owned data centers and colocations, forming a unified capacity pool. Nebius has guaranteed that customers will experience the same high level of service, support, and technical standards regardless of who owns the physical servers. Commercial agreements under this model are expected to vary, encompassing structures like revenue-sharing, commissions, licensing fees, or dedicated capacity agreements.

Balancing Partnerships and Direct Growth

While Nebius has already entered into its first initial arrangements under this partner model, the company has not publicly disclosed the identity of these initial partners, their locations, or the financial specifics of the deals.

The asset-light strategy serves as a major supplement to Nebius’s ongoing direct expansions. The company has rapidly scaled its contracted power, jumping from over 2 gigawatts at the end of 2025 to more than 3.5 gigawatts in the first quarter of 2026, with a near-term goal of reaching at least 4 gigawatts. Supported by a strategic $2 billion investment from Nvidia, Nebius ultimately aims to bring more than 5 gigawatts of capacity online by 2030.

This new partner-owned structure represents a very different approach from Nebius’s dedicated multiyear cloud agreement with Microsoft, which centers on dedicated AI infrastructure at a new build-to-suit site in Vineland, New Jersey. By contrast, the new partnership model completely shifts hardware ownership and local facility management to third parties.