SOAR AI, Inc. (NYSE American: SOAR), formerly known as Volato Group, Inc. (“SOAR AI” or the “Company”), today provided a construction update on its AI compute campus in Chillicothe, Ohio. Low-voltage data hall transformers and cooling plant equipment are being installed this week, and the Company remains on schedule to place its first 4,096 AMD Instinct™ MI355X GPUs in service on December 31, 2026, with customer revenue expected to begin in January 2027.
The data hall, at a former paper mill, is being converted into an AI facility with closed-loop liquid cooling. Following the MI355X deployment, the Company intends to deploy 4,032 next-generation AMD Instinct™ MI455X GPUs on the AMD Helios™ rack-scale platform, with the data hall expected to be ready to accept them in February 2027 and a contractual in-service date of June 30, 2027. The campus has 154 megawatts of power available today and a roadmap to 480 megawatts.
Approximately $1.2 billion under contract
The GPU deployment is supported by a master services agreement and two four-year, take-or-pay orders representing $1.17 billion in aggregate contract value. The MI355X GPUs and the first 4,032 MI455X GPUs are planned to fulfill these orders, giving the Company long-term revenue visibility. Revenue under the first order is expected to begin in January 2027, subject to delivery and acceptance. Based on the contracted rates and anticipated service start dates, the Company expects these orders to generate revenue of approximately $175 million to $200 million in 2027.
Construction progress
Installation of the data hall’s power and cooling equipment is under way:
- The substation, medium-voltage distribution and turbine backup power systems are active and commissioned.
- Low-voltage data hall transformers are being installed this week.
- Cooling plant equipment is on site and being installed now.
- Piping, wiring and other materials for the data hall have arrived on schedule.
Milestones ahead
|
Milestone |
Target |
|
4,096 AMD Instinct™ MI355X GPUs in service |
December 31, 2026 |
|
Contracted customer revenue begins |
January 2027 |
|
Data hall ready to accept 4,032 AMD Instinct™ MI455X GPUs on AMD Helios™ |
February 2027 |
|
4,032 MI455X GPUs in service (contractual date) |
June 30, 2027 |
|
Up to two additional tranches of 4,032 MI455X GPUs each, for future customers |
Second half of 2027, subject to financing and customer contracts |
Built for efficiency
The facility uses direct liquid cooling at the rack, with heat rejected through the mill’s existing water system for year-round free cooling. The design targets a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of approximately 1.08. The data hall is designed to Uptime Institute Tier III concurrent maintainability standards.
Revitalizing an Ohio industrial site
The campus repurposes a paper mill that closed in 2025, reusing its power and water infrastructure. The project returns an idle industrial site to productive use, bringing skilled construction and technical work to the Chillicothe area while limiting the need for new utility infrastructure.
Room to grow
The Company plans up to two additional tranches of 4,032 MI455X GPUs each for future customers, targeted to enter service in the second half of 2027, which together with the contracted deployment would bring the campus to as many as 16,192 GPUs. These tranches are subject to securing financing and customer contracts, and could be accelerated if both come together sooner. The Company is also actively exploring additional data center sites in the United States and internationally.
“Less than two months after closing our merger, we are turning a shuttered Ohio paper mill into one of the most advanced AI compute facilities in the Midwest,” said Chris Ensey, Chief Executive Officer of SOAR AI. “Reusing the mill’s existing power and water infrastructure, combined with direct liquid cooling, lets us bring capacity online in months rather than years. Our power systems are commissioned, and the data hall equipment is going in now. We expect our first AMD Instinct MI355X GPUs to be serving our first customer on December 31, with next-generation MI455X GPUs on the Helios platform to follow in 2027.”
“This deployment is the first step in converting our power and site advantages into contracted, recurring revenue,” said Mark Heinen, Chief Financial Officer of SOAR AI. “We remain focused on disciplined execution and on funding the build-out efficiently as we move toward first revenue in January 2027.”
About SOAR AI
SOAR AI, Inc. (NYSE American: SOAR), formerly known as Volato Group, Inc., is an AI infrastructure and software company focused on the development and operation of AI infrastructure and AI-powered software solutions. The Company is constructing an AI infrastructure campus in Ohio that combines data center infrastructure, high-density GPU compute, high-performance networking and related technology to support AI, machine learning and high-performance computing workloads. The Company also develops AI-powered operational systems for aviation businesses through its Aviation AI platform and operates Vaunt, a technology-enabled private aviation membership platform. The name SOAR, Sovereign AI Resources, reflects the Company’s strategy of developing AI infrastructure that gives customers greater control over their data, models and computing environments.
For more information, visit soarai.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the timing of construction, equipment installation, commissioning and customer service start dates at the Company’s Ohio campus; the timing and quantity of GPU deployments; expected revenue, including the timing of initial revenue and 2027 revenue; expected capacity, efficiency and redundancy; future expansion, including additional GPU tranches and additional AI infrastructure locations; financing plans; and the Company’s ability to execute its growth strategy.
Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “projects,” “targets,” “would,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “potential,” “opportunity” and the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections and are not guarantees of future performance or events. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including risks related to equipment and materials delivery delays; construction and commissioning; equipment procurement and reliance on key suppliers; power availability; delivery, acceptance and service-level requirements; customer concentration; obtaining customer prepayments and project-level financing on acceptable terms; integrating Alignment Engine’s business; site selection, permitting and development of additional locations; regulatory and permitting matters; continued listing on NYSE American; volatility in the Company’s common stock; obtaining required NYSE American approvals; and other factors described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Trademarks
AMD Instinct™, AMD Helios™ and related marks are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names referenced in this press release are the property of their respective owners. The use or display of third-party trademarks, service marks or trade names in this press release is not intended to, and does not, imply any relationship between SOAR AI and the applicable trademark owner, or any endorsement or sponsorship by or of SOAR AI. Solely for convenience, certain trademarks and trade names referred to in this press release may appear without the ® or ™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that the applicable owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights to these trademarks and trade names.
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