Rumble has expanded beyond being just a video platform. Its shares jumped 16.5% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company completed its purchase of Northern Data, a German AI infrastructure firm. Rumble will now rebrand as RUM Group and operate two separate business units. Here’s a look at what this restructuring means and what Northern Data adds.
Northern Data has about 22,000 Nvidia H100 and H200 chips spread across nine data centers. This gives RUM Group instant access to significant AI computing power. The company will now have two divisions: the Rumble video platform, which serves as a conservative alternative to YouTube, and Quake AI, a new cloud and AI infrastructure business based on Northern Data’s resources.
The deal was first announced in November and has now officially closed. CEO Chris Pavlovski described the rebrand as a way to support AI innovation while keeping Rumble’s role as a platform for independent creators.
Rumble is part of a growing trend of companies shifting to AI computing infrastructure, no matter their original industry. For example, Allbirds, known for its sneakers, announced in April it would move into AI computing. Its shares soared over 600%. This week, Allbirds finished the transition by selling its shoe brand, changing its name to Smartbird, and appointing a technology executive as CEO.
It is still unclear if buying hardware and rebranding will lead to lasting AI businesses. For Rumble, acquiring Northern Data gives the Quake AI division real GPU assets to work with, offering a concrete starting point instead of just a plan.
