Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) shares surged nearly 48% in premarket trading on Tuesday after announcing a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The deal, valued at up to $19.4 billion over five years, will see Nebius, a provider of Nvidia-backed graphics processors for AI training, supply AI infrastructure from its New Jersey-based data center.
The Amsterdam-based company, which rebranded from Yandex NV last year after selling its Russian-language operations, is positioning itself as a significant player in the AI infrastructure space. The agreement is expected to help Microsoft tackle the growing demand for AI-ready cloud services, particularly from major clients like OpenAI, which is expanding its AI capabilities.
In addition to the multibillion-dollar deal, Nebius plans to explore new financing options to accelerate its expansion beyond its original growth strategy. As part of the collaboration, Microsoft retains the option to purchase an additional $2 billion of services, securing its AI infrastructure needs for the foreseeable future.
Nebius has also disclosed plans to roll out GPU services in stages this year and next, with an eye on expanding its capabilities to meet the increasing demand for AI infrastructure.
Nvidia’s support and backing of Nebius, coupled with this partnership, positions the company as a key player in reducing Europe’s reliance on U.S. and Chinese AI models while strengthening its AI technology in semiconductor production.
Nebius has already more than doubled in value in 2025, with shares closing at just above $15 billion before the recent surge. The partnership with Microsoft marks a major milestone in Nebius’s strategy to revolutionize AI infrastructure in the semiconductor and cloud computing sectors.
