Nebius (Nasdaq: NBIS), the AI cloud company, today welcomed the Independence City Council’s vote to approve the Chapter 100 industrial development incentive plan for its planned AI factory campus.
The approval of the plan enables Nebius to proceed with the construction of the Independence AI factory, which has potential capacity of up to 1.2 GW.
“Independence will be our largest AI factory in the United States to date, and we are fully committed to making it a project the city is proud of,” said Arkady Volozh, CEO of Nebius. “This is our first project of this scale, but not the last.”
Nebius already operates in the Kansas City area and sees the Independence AI factory as central to its long-term growth in the US. The company is committed to operating transparently and has outlined plans to deliver benefits for local communities over the life of the project.
“We are building AI infrastructure at scale, and we are doing it in a way that genuinely works for the communities where we operate,” said John Sutter, VP US Public Affairs at Nebius. “We are grateful to everyone who supported this project, and we intend to earn the trust of all Independence residents — not through promises, but through results.”
The project — a multi-building campus on approximately 400 acres — is expected to create approximately 1.200 skilled construction jobs, mostly among local building trades, with around 130 permanent high-tech positions once the AI factory is fully operational.
The AI factory will include a closed-loop cooling system that keeps water consumption comparable to a restaurant or office building, and noise-reduction technology will be built in throughout. The campus connects to Independence Power & Light (IPL), the city’s municipally owned utility, and is structured so as not to increase residential power rates.
Under the approved agreement and associated tax incentive package, Nebius will make Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) projected to deliver over $650 million to the city, local school districts, and other taxing jurisdictions over the 20-year term.
Nebius has also committed to a broad community benefits plan, including STEM and AI literacy programs for local schools, workforce development, support for first responders, and the establishment of a Community Engagement Panel to maintain ongoing dialogue with Independence residents.
