AIB Data Centers signs 50 MW Nebius contract in the Southeast

Fifty megawatts of planned AI capacity in the U.S. Southeast now has a 12-year customer commitment, while its opening date and contract value remain undisclosed. AIB Data Centers Inc. NYSEAMERICANAIB, the New York developer and operator of AI hosting facilities, said in its Sept. 30 release that it signed a binding agreement for the capacity. The release calls the customer "Nebius" and names Nebius Inc. and its listed parent, Nebius Group N.V. NASDAQNBIS, an AI cloud operator, in its risk disclosure; it does not identify the legal entity that signed.

AIB shares closed at US$1.71 on NYSE American at 4 p.m. EDT on Sept. 29, 2026, according to NYSEAMERICANAIB. Nebius shares closed at US$237.36 on Nasdaq at 4 p.m. EDT on Sept. 29, 2026, according to NASDAQNBIS. Both closes preceded AIB's 8:17 a.m. EDT announcement on Sept. 30 and do not show a market reaction to the agreement.

The contract covers 50 MW of critical IT capacity in two data halls, according to AIB's Sept. 30 release. The site has a previously announced 15-year electric service agreement for 65 MW of utility load, and AIB says significant additional electrical upgrades are unnecessary. The utility figure describes power available to the facility; the IT figure is the capacity contracted to Nebius.

AIB expects customer prepayments under the agreement, project-level debt and preferred equity to fund a substantial portion of initial development costs. The Sept. 30 release gives no prepayment amount, construction budget, loan commitment, rent figure or service-start date. It also does not state when either of the two data halls will be delivered.

Customer Prepayments Have No Disclosed Dollar Value

"We believe we have a capital-efficient path to develop the initial capacity. Our focus now turns to execution and delivering on schedule," AIB chief executive Jerry Tang said in the Sept. 30 release.

The financing is still a forecast rather than a reported closing. AIB's Sept. 30 risk disclosure identifies timely commissioning, service-level standards and conditions for releasing escrowed funds among the uncertainties. That list shows why a signed tenant contract does not by itself establish that Nebius has paid a specified sum or that AIB has secured project debt.

AIB said its plan would reduce the need to issue common shares at the corporate level. It did not quantify the expected debt, preferred equity or dilution avoided, so shareholders cannot yet calculate a capital cost per contracted megawatt. The release also leaves open whether optional renewals would add any value beyond the initial 12-year term.

Hut 8 Corp. NASDAQHUT TSEHUT, the power and digital infrastructure developer, closed a US$1.07 billion secured revolving facility on Sept. 28, 2026. Its chief financial officer, Sean Glennan, described AI infrastructure development as capital intensive in that release. He was discussing Hut 8's funding, not AIB's agreement; AIB's Sept. 30 release names an expected funding mix but no committed project loan. Mugglehead's Sept. 28 account of the facility explained why a bank commitment differs from cash already drawn.

Read more: Hut 8 adds US$1.07B secured credit line for AI campuses (Sept. 28, 2026)

Texas Purchase Raised AIB's Power Portfolio To 120 MW

AIB reported on Sept. 14 that it had acquired adjacent Texas parcels carrying 55 MW of power capacity, lifting its contracted portfolio from 65 MW to 120 MW. Fifteen megawatts at the Texas property were energized at closing, while another 40 MW were under development. That Texas capacity is distinct from the southeastern facility in the Nebius announcement, which AIB ties to the earlier 65 MW utility agreement.

AIB said in its Sept. 14 release that it paid about US$11.2 million at closing from cash on hand and deferred US$6 million. The release put cash at US$52.8 million as of June 30, 2026, before that closing payment. Those dated figures describe its balance sheet and land purchase, not a budget for the Nebius halls.

AIB's investor presentation filed with the SEC assigned an illustrative first-half 2027 revenue start to a 65 MW project labelled CLT-01. The deck explicitly said its development targets were neither guidance nor forecasts. AIB's Sept. 30 release does not identify the Nebius site as CLT-01 or adopt that earlier schedule.

Nebius Has Its Own Customer Prepayment Plan

Nebius's second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter reported US$582.3 million in group revenue and about US$8 billion in cash at quarter-end. It targeted 5 GW of contracted power by the end of 2026, a portfolio measure distinct from AIB's 50 MW of customer IT capacity. The letter also forecast more than US$9 billion in prepayments from Nebius's own customers during 2026; it did not specify what Nebius would prepay AIB.

Bitdeer Technologies Group NASDAQBTDR, the Singapore bitcoin miner and AI cloud operator, reported customer commitments for its Malaysian A201 site on Sept. 29, 2026. Its company release put contracted offtake above 70 per cent of the site's 21.7 MW capacity. Bitdeer projected more than US$1.7 billion in AI cloud revenue over five years, with energization targeted for the first quarter of 2027. AIB supplied no comparable contract value or energization target for its Nebius deal. Mugglehead's Sept. 30 report on Bitdeer's Malaysian offtake traced the gap between customer commitments and live capacity at that site.

Read more: Bitdeer Technologies Group projects US$1.7B from Malaysia AI offtake (Sept. 30, 2026)

AIB's SEC presentation put CLT-01's illustrative revenue start in the first half of 2027, but its Sept. 30 release does not connect that project to the Nebius halls. A dated delivery plan and disclosed financing terms are the next tests of the 50 MW contract.