Vantage and Nebius bring first commercial AI deployment to South Wales Growth Zone

Daniel Bevan - Editor

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Vantage Data Centers and AI cloud company Nebius are to deploy high-density, NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure at Vantage’s CWL1 data centre campus in Newport.

The agreement is the first announced commercial capacity commitment in the South Wales AI Growth Zone and is intended to increase the UK’s domestic AI computing capacity.

Nebius will lease capacity at the Newport campus for AI training, inference, agentic AI and enterprise workloads, serving businesses, researchers, startups and public sector organisations.

The deployment forms part of Nebius’ wider UK expansion. In June, the company announced around £1.7bn of committed capacity buildout across four UK sites, using NVIDIA’s latest full-stack DSX AI factory reference design.

Vantage said its Newport campus, which has been operational since 2010, provides the power, connectivity and scale required for high-density AI workloads.

The company plans to deliver more than 1GW of AI-ready capacity across Newport, Bridgend and Bro Tathan as part of a multi-billion-pound investment programme in South Wales.

“This is an important milestone for South Wales and for the UK’s AI infrastructure ambitions,” said David Howson, president, EMEA, Vantage Data Centers.

“Nebius is scaling AI cloud infrastructure in the UK at a time when demand for domestic compute capacity continues to accelerate.

“Vantage’s Newport campus provides the scale, connectivity and operational excellence needed to support that growth, and we’re proud to help establish South Wales as a leading destination for AI investment.”

Gary Tierney, general manager for EMEA at Nebius, said: “The UK is one of the places where AI is being built, deployed and adopted by startups, enterprises and the public sector,” said Gary Tierney, general manager for EMEA at Nebius.

“Vantage’s Newport campus gives us a strong foundation to expand access to NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure in the UK and support customers building the next generation of AI applications.”

AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: “This government wants to put AI to work as a tool for renewing Britain and delivering new jobs.

“It is central to our mission to reindustrialise the country, drive good growth in every postcode and ensure our public services match-fit for the decades ahead.

“Making that happen relies on having cutting-edge compute–the horsepower that makes AI possible–here on home shores.

“The infrastructure at Newport will create new high skilled jobs in South Wales and help British businesses and innovators using AI to solve some of the toughest problems.”

Welsh Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price said: “Today’s announcement marks an important milestone for the South Wales AI Growth Zone and demonstrates Wales’ growing reputation as a strategic location for the infrastructure that will power the AI economy.

“Nebius and Vantage’s investment will help unlock new economic opportunities, support highly skilled jobs and reinforce Wales’ position as a leading destination for advanced digital investment,

“We look forward to working with partners to maximise the benefits of this investment for businesses, communities and the wider Welsh economy.”

South Wales was designated a UK AI Growth Zone because of its concentration of digital infrastructure, fibre connectivity to London, high-capacity electricity infrastructure and industrial base.