How Nebius is Becoming the AWS of AI (ft. Marc Boroditsky)

Episode Overview

• Marc Boroditsky, CRO of Nebius, discusses the company's role as a full-stack AI infrastructure provider, positioning itself as the "AWS of AI."
• The conversation covers the explosive growth in the AI sector, detailing Nebius's strategy for expansion and its major partnership with Microsoft.
• Marc provides an insider's look at the "neo-cloud" landscape, Nebius's close relationship with NVIDIA, and how they navigate the intense competition and supply chain challenges.
• Key topics include the "circular" AI economy driven by NVIDIA's investments and the physical realities of building data centers, from securing power to navigating regulations.
• The episode concludes with Marc's perspective on the future of AI applications, the inevitable need for more computing power, and his personal use of AI tools.

Key Concepts

• The AWS of AI: Nebius operates as a full-stack AI infrastructure provider, offering hardware, software, and services to allow AI engineers to focus on building applications rather than managing infrastructure.
• Neo-Cloud vs. Neo-Scaler: The term "neo-cloud" is a broad category. Nebius differentiates itself as a "neo-scaler," aiming to be the next generation of hyperscalers by providing a complete, integrated solution.
• The AI Infrastructure Boom: The demand for AI compute is growing at an unprecedented rate, so much so that even major hyperscalers like Microsoft are partnering with companies like Nebius to expand their capacity.
• Partnership with NVIDIA: Nebius maintains a special partnership with NVIDIA, which includes being a key channel for their GPUs and receiving investment. This relationship is crucial for securing access to high-demand chips.
• An Economy Built on Data Centers: The current AI expansion is not just about chips; it's a massive physical infrastructure build-out. The key challenges are now shifting to securing land, power, and navigating the regulations required to build and operate data centers at scale.

Quotes

• At 01:46 - "We are the AWS of AI." - Marc Boroditsky explains Nebius's business model as a comprehensive, full-stack provider for AI infrastructure, similar to what AWS did for traditional cloud computing.
• At 02:37 - "We think of ourselves more as a neo-scaler... the next version of the hyperscalers." - Boroditsky distinguishes Nebius from the broader "neo-cloud" category, highlighting their ambition to provide a complete, scalable solution.
• At 04:28 - "The pace of the market that we're in the midst of is unprecedented." - Discussing why even giants like Microsoft partner with Nebius, emphasizing the sheer speed and scale of the demand for AI infrastructure.
• At 10:57 - "We are on the brink of a multi-trillion dollar transformation that's taking place." - Boroditsky provides context for the massive investments and "circular" financing deals in the AI space, framing them as necessary capitalization for a historic market shift.
• At 28:24 - "He is a consummate statesman-type CEO... and knowledgeable and genuine." - Describing his personal interaction with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, offering a glimpse into the leader at the center of the AI revolution.

Takeaways

• AI infrastructure is a full-stack game where the winners will be those who can provide a complete, seamless package of hardware, software, and services to developers.
• The demand for AI compute is so massive that it's creating new ecosystems; even hyperscalers are turning to specialized partners to meet capacity needs, indicating a vast market opportunity.
• The primary bottleneck in the AI race is shifting from securing chips to the physical logistics of building and powering data centers, including navigating local regulations and energy constraints.
• As AI applications like text-to-video become more advanced and widespread, the demand for inference (running the models) will grow exponentially, creating a continuous need for more computing power.
• NVIDIA's strategy of investing in its customers is a form of market capitalization, designed to fuel the infrastructure build-out necessary to absorb its own massive chip production.