Reflection AI signs $1B+ deal with Nebius for Nvidia chips

Open-source AI startup Reflection AI said on Tuesday it has signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Nebius Group ↘ 4.03% to secure computing capacity, including access to Nvidia's ↘ 1.47% latest GB300 AI chips, according to Reuters.reuters

The agreement, which runs through 2029, marks the second major compute deal Reflection has struck in recent weeks and underscores the staggering infrastructure costs facing even well-funded AI startups as they race to train frontier models.investing

A Growing Appetite for Compute

The Nebius agreement comes less than a month after Reflection signed a separate deal worth up to $6.3 billion with SpaceX for access to GB300 chips inside the Colossus 2 data center near Memphis, Tennessee. Under that arrangement, Reflection is paying $150 million a month beginning July 1, 2026, through 2029.techcrunch+1

Founded in 2024 by former Google DeepMind researchers Misha Laskin and Ioannis Antonoglou, Reflection AI has positioned itself as an open-model alternative to closed frontier labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The company raised $2 billion in Series B funding in late 2025 at an $8 billion valuation, with Nvidia supplying the largest share at $800 million.wikipedia+3

Nebius Cements Neocloud Status

For Nebius, the Reflection deal adds to a roster of high-profile contracts that have transformed the Amsterdam-based company into one of the fastest-growing AI infrastructure providers. The firm reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $399 million, a 684 percent increase year-over-year, and has secured multi-billion-dollar agreements with both Microsoft ↗ 0.52% and Meta ↗ 1.02%. Nvidia itself invested $2 billion in Nebius in March 2026 as part of a strategic partnership to deploy multiple generations of GPU infrastructure across Nebius's platform.youtube+4

The Economics of Open-Source AI

Reflection's combined compute commitments now exceed $7 billion, a striking figure for a startup that has publicly championed open-source development. The company recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to provide AI models for the Genesis Mission at the national laboratories. Its strategy of leasing capacity rather than building data centers allows it to avoid the multi-billion-dollar capital expenditures that hyperscalers shoulder, though the monthly obligations remain substantial. Either party can exit the SpaceX deal with 90 days' notice after the first three months, a flexibility that may apply to the Nebius contract as well.benton+1