Nebius reports deals with early-stage UK AI labs
The AI infrastructure company has announced a £1.7 billion UK expansion and operates four data centre sites in the country.
Amsterdam-headquartered Nebius says it has reached agreements with several young British AI laboratories as it seeks to expand its UK computing infrastructure business. Gary Tierney, its general manager for EMEA, declined to identify the clients, saying they were operating in stealth or had only recently emerged from it.
The company previously announced a £1.7 billion investment programme covering new UK locations and an enlarged London hub. That hub is its main European base for research and development and go-to-market operations. Nebius has four UK data centre sites, alongside facilities in Finland and France.
Nebius equips data centres with GPUs and sells computing access and specialised AI software to businesses. Its infrastructure customers include Meta and Microsoft, with which it has contracts worth multiple billions of dollars. It also has computing agreements with Revolut and Prima Mente.
Tierney cited the concentration of talent as a reason to pursue further UK expansion. He said public opposition to data centres would not, in itself, deter the company from investing in a region.
He also welcomed UK government plans to loosen employment non-compete restrictions. Although he said those clauses had not necessarily caused difficulties for Nebius, he argued that removing them could help London start-ups recruit and encourage more AI laboratories to emerge.
