Markus Maila: AI Factories Could Be a Key Catalyst for Estonia's Rapid Economic Growth

AI Eesti co-founder Markus Maila. Photo: private collection

The power dynamics in the tech world no longer revolve around software, but around AI compute power. While in previous decades the tech world was shaped by US software and cloud services giants, the so-called hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Oracle, a new generation of AI operators is now rising alongside them. Their focus is on managing massive compute power that enables the development of large language models, generative AI, and scientific simulations.

Coreweave, Nebius, Lambda Labs, and Crusoe are just a few of the new-generation AI operators that have seen major success in recent years, driven by the exponential growth in demand for AI server capacity. AI operators are becoming a new strategic industry where large-scale infrastructure investments run into billions of euros.

Many of our everyday AI services run on AI operators' cloud servers. For example, when you use ChatGPT, an image generator, AI translation tools, or AI filters on TikTok or Instagram, some of the requests may be running in the cloud of an AI operator that provides compute power to companies like OpenAI or Meta.

Four companies stand out in the AI operator, or so-called neocloud, market for their financial results and rapid growth. Nvidia itself has invested in or serves as a strategic partner to several of them.

In GPU clusters created together with Nvidia, Coreweave can train even the most demanding AI models. Coreweave provides compute power to Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google, among others.

Coreweave is one of the world's leading providers of AI training capacity. As a strategic partner of Nvidia, they are among the first to access Nvidia's latest graphics processing units (GPUs). In GPU clusters created together with Nvidia, Coreweave can train even the most demanding AI models. Coreweave provides compute power to Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google, among others.

Europe's largest AI operator Nebius recently signed a deal with Microsoft worth an estimated $19.4 billion and a deal with Meta for providing AI compute power. They also have AI factories in Finland, among other locations. Nebius shares are listed on the US Nasdaq exchange, and the company's investors include Nvidia and Bezos Expeditions.

US AI server capacity provider Crusoe was involved in building OpenAI's first data center in the US, and their ambitions extend all the way to space.

Crusoe recently signed a deal with Starcloud to build the first solar-powered AI factory on a Starcloud satellite, which is expected to reach orbit in 2027. The space-based solution would run on solar energy and would not require terrestrial power grids, traditional cooling, or land resources.

The rise of AI operators as a global trend directly impacts Estonian companies. AI operators could become the unit of measurement for economic impact over the next decade.

US-based Lambda Labs has AI factories in the US, Mexico, and Canada, along with a multi-billion-dollar partnership with Microsoft for building AI factories based on Nvidia processors. They offer on-demand GPU capacity, meaning any developer, company, or researcher can order capacity for training their model. Lambda Labs' investors also include Nvidia.

The rise of AI operators as a global trend directly impacts Estonian companies. AI operators could become the unit of measurement for economic impact over the next decade.

The competitive edge belongs to those who know how to build their products, services, and R&D on top of the new generation of AI cloud. AI factories could be a key catalyst for Estonia's rapid economic growth, because Estonia has talent, ambition, and ideas. The question is whether we can seize the moment when access to global smart compute power is open to everyone who can put it to work.