Nebius says it has no ties to Yandex

Nebius communications chief Tom Blackwell told ERR that the company building an artificial intelligence facility in Hüüru, Estonia, is a new business with no ties to Russia, despite its historical links to Russian technology company Yandex.

Blackwell said Nebius’s data centres are designed specifically to serve the artificial intelligence industry, rather than provide general-purpose cloud storage. The infrastructure is intended for clients ranging from AI startups and AI-native companies to scaleups and large corporations.

He said Estonia was chosen because of both electricity availability and the potential for a strong local AI and technology ecosystem. Nebius is expanding rapidly and is planning facilities with a combined capacity measured in gigawatts worldwide, he said.

The company has not disclosed the exact investment planned for Estonia. Blackwell said projects of this type can involve investments of several billion euros once they reach full implementation, including spending on facilities, chips and other hardware.

He said the projects could also have a wider economic impact by creating jobs and supporting the development of the local AI and technology ecosystem.

The first phase of the Estonian project is expected to bring 22 megawatts online by the end of this year. Blackwell said this would be the first step, with further expansion possible in the following years.

He compared the plans with one of Nebius’s first facilities near Helsinki, which was initially of a similar size but has since been expanded several times. He said the company looks for locations where it can continue increasing capacity and growing.

According to Blackwell, projects of this kind typically involve hundreds of jobs connected with construction and daily operations.