Amsterdam-headquartered Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) has launched a new model allowing infrastructure partners to deploy its full-stack AI cloud platform in their own data centres.

Under the arrangement, partners will finance and own the infrastructure and hardware, while operating the facilities. Nebius will provide the system architecture, hardware design, supply-chain access and software stack, and will market the resulting capacity through its global sales network.

The model is intended to expand the capacity available to Nebius customers without requiring the company to fund and own all of the underlying infrastructure.

Partner-operated sites will be added to Nebius’s wider capacity pool alongside its owned data centres and colocation deployments.

For infrastructure owners, the arrangement provides a route into the AI cloud market while retaining ownership of the underlying assets. Nebius will be responsible for connecting the capacity with customers once it becomes operational. 

“Our new asset-light model gives infrastructure partners a flexible way to benefit from the explosive growth of AI,” said Nebius founder and CEO Arkady Volozh. The model would allow infrastructure partners to reach a broader customer base and potentially earn higher margins than through conventional wholesale bare-metal agreements. 

“We’re inviting data centre investors, regional partners and others with capacity or capital to contribute to join us in serving this demand, combining their assets and local strengths with Nebius’s technology, platform, operational expertise and customer demand.”

The partnership model could include revenue-sharing agreements, licensing fees, commissions and committed-capacity contracts, under which it would gain access to additional compute to sell to customers. The company has already entered into initial agreements using the model.

Nebius will train partner teams to operate the sites and remain responsible for the cloud software and service levels. Partners will manage the facilities and hardware, while customers are expected to receive the same service standards across Nebius-owned and partner-operated infrastructure.