Nebius Emerges as a European AI Leader from Yandex’s Transformation
From the remnants of Yandex, once hailed as the "Google of Russia," a new entity called Nebius is rising, aiming to dominate the European
From the remnants of Yandex, once hailed as the “Google of Russia,” a new entity called Nebius is rising, aiming to dominate the European AI compute market.
Unlike a typical startup, Nebius launches with significant advantages: 1,300 employees and $2.5 billion in capital. “It’s like a startup because we are ‘starting up,’ but it’s an unusually big one,” said Arkady Volozh, the co-founder and former CEO of Yandex, in a recent interview with TechCrunch.
Strategic Pivots Amid Political Shifts
The transition from Yandex to Nebius wasn’t just a rebranding but a strategic pivot necessitated by geopolitical tensions. Following the EU’s sanctions linked to the Ukraine invasion, which temporarily ousted Volozh, the company had to drastically rethink its operations and structure.
The final straw was the sale of Yandex’s major Russian assets to a local consortium for $5.4 billion, a move that halved the company’s market value due to Russian regulations requiring sales at a significant discount.
This divestiture marked a significant shift away from Yandex’s original market base, positioning Nebius to operate entirely outside of Russian influence.
Nebius: A New Contender in AI Infrastructure
Now standing as Nebius, the company is not just surviving but aiming to thrive as a heavyweight in AI infrastructure. With a data center in Finland and a robust partnership with Nvidia, Nebius is poised to expand its capabilities significantly.
“We launched Nebius less than a year ago, and we now have thousands of GPUs,” Volozh remarked, highlighting the rapid scale-up in their operations. Plans are underway to not only triple the capacity of their Finnish facility to nearly 100 megawatts but also to establish new data centres across Europe.
Nebius’s ambition is to build a full-stack AI infrastructure service, a niche but vital component within the broader, highly attractive AI market.
“We produce the full stack — data centers, motherboards, servers, racks, connectivity — everything is our own,” Volozh explained, emphasizing their comprehensive control over the supply chain.
Despite the enormity of the task and the competitive landscape, which includes giants like CoreWeave and emerging players like Flex AI, Nebius holds a unique advantage.
It inherits a legacy of technological expertise and infrastructure development from Yandex, coupled with a ready-made team skilled in managing large-scale tech operations. This blend of old expertise and new opportunities makes Nebius a notable player to watch in the evolving landscape of global tech and AI development.
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