Nebius tests the neocloud playbook with $40 billion in planned spending

Nebius has set out plans to spend $40 billion in 2027 to expand its AI data centre capacity, a scale that surprised investors. The plan relies heavily on customer pre-payments and loans secured against contracts, leaving the company exposed if construction delays or cancellations postpone the revenue needed to support its costs.

A major Microsoft-backed site in Vineland, New Jersey, is months behind schedule: just over half of the contracted capacity is now due by the end of 2026, with the rest planned for the second quarter of 2027. Nebius attributes the delay to the site operator winding down temporary power generation sooner than expected as it switches to fuel cells. The site has also faced a $1.1 million regulatory fine over unpermitted gas generators and a residents’ noise lawsuit; Microsoft’s contract may allow it to terminate affected services after a grace period and includes penalties for late delivery. Nebius says Microsoft has been involved in planning the revised dates, but has not confirmed whether it has accepted them.