Nebius selects Kao Data for UK AI deployment
Author: Joe Peck
Dutch AI cloud company Nebius has signed a 10-year agreement with Kao Data, a data centre developer and operator, to deploy 22MW of AI infrastructure at the company’s data centre campus in Harlow, Essex.
The deployment will support AI cloud services in the UK and forms part of Nebius’s wider expansion plans, including a recently announced £1.7 billion investment in UK AI infrastructure.
Nebius will host its AI cloud platform and Nebius Token Factory inference service at Kao Data’s Harlow campus, which has been designed to support AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
According to the companies, the agreement will provide additional computing capacity for organisations across the UK’s research, academic, and enterprise sectors, while supporting the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.
Spencer Lamb, CEO of Kao Data, says, “Today marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the Kao Data portfolio and a landmark moment in the UK’s AI ambitions.
“Nebius is an impressive global AI cloud operator, and we are delighted to welcome such a significant deployment into our Harlow data centre campus.
“This partnership proves that despite challenging macroeconomic circumstances, demand for industrial-scale, UK-based, cutting-edge AI remains high, with Kao Data the perfect platform for the latest AI workloads.”
Expansion of UK AI computing capacity
Nebius provides cloud infrastructure designed for AI model training, deployment, and inference. Part of the new capacity at Harlow will support Nebius Token Factory, the company’s inference platform for deploying and managing open AI models at scale.
Andrey Korolenko, Chief Product and Infrastructure Officer at Nebius, comments, “We’re pleased to be continuing our expansion in the UK with Kao Data.
“The UK is a major destination for AI and is becoming an important part of Nebius’s global footprint. By bringing dedicated capacity to support inference workloads, we can enable UK AI builders and enterprises to achieve their AI goals.”
Kao Data says the Harlow campus is powered by renewable energy and supported by HVO-powered backup generators. Its KLON-03 facility also incorporates direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology designed to support high-density AI infrastructure while reducing water consumption.
The company states that the site already hosts a large concentration of AI, academic research, and life sciences computing workloads.
It adds that the Nebius deployment is expected to further strengthen Harlow’s position as a centre for AI infrastructure in the UK, as demand for GPU-accelerated computing continues to grow.
Kao Data is also reportedly progressing planned facilities in Park Royal, West London, and Greater Manchester.
For more from Kao Data, click here.
