Nebius Group Launches Major AI Infrastructure Campus in Missouri
New York, Thursday, 28 May 2026.
Nebius Group has broken ground on a 162-hectare, gigawatt-scale AI factory in Missouri, an ambitious project designed to meet skyrocketing domestic computing demand while driving local economic growth.
Scaling Up in the Heartland and Beyond
On May 25, 2026 [1], Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) commenced construction on a gigawatt-scale artificial intelligence factory in Independence, Missouri [1]. [alert! Source 5 states the groundbreaking occurred between April 27 and May 3, 2026, but Source 1 explicitly dates the commencement to May 25, 2026]. The sprawling 162-hectare development is slated to generate approximately 1,200 construction jobs and 130 permanent positions [1][5]. As data centers increasingly draw scrutiny for their resource consumption [GPT], Nebius has integrated stringent environmental controls into the Missouri site, including noise mitigation, light reduction, and advanced water efficiency measures [1].
Surging Demand and Financial Performance
The physical infrastructure buildout is a direct response to explosive financial growth. In its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results released on May 26, 2026, Nebius reported total revenue of $399.0 million, representing a staggering 684% year-over-year increase [2]. The core Nebius AI Cloud segment drove the bulk of this performance, generating $389.70 million [6], which accounts for 97.669% of the company’s total Q1 revenue. Despite this hyper-growth, the headline revenue actually missed consensus estimates of $593.19 million by 32.74% [6], underscoring the sky-high expectations currently baked into AI infrastructure equities [GPT].