> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.sotkn.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # SOAR AI books $1.17B of AMD GPU orders in an old Ohio paper mill - URL: https://www.sotkn.com/wire/soar-ai-1-17b-amd-gpu-ohio-paper-mill-data-center-wire/ - Published: 2026-10-20T23:37:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-20T23:37:53.000Z - Description: SOAR AI, formerly Volato, says 4,096 AMD GPUs enter service at its Ohio paper-mill campus on 31 December under $1.17B of take-or-pay orders from an unnamed customer. Nothing is billed until the chips are bought, installed and accepted. - Author: Sean - Tags: #desk-wire `WIRE` · `NEOCLOUDS` · `UNITED STATES` · Data as at 20 Oct 2026 A private aviation company that renamed itself an AI cloud this week has $1.17 billion of GPU orders booked in an old Ohio paper mill, and none of it is revenue yet. On **20 October 2026** SOAR AI, which was Volato Group until this week, said its campus in Chillicothe, Ohio is on schedule to put **4,096** AMD MI355X GPUs into service on **31 December**, with customer revenue starting in January 2027\. A second batch of **4,032** AMD MI455X GPUs has a contractual in-service date of **30 June 2027**. Both batches serve one unnamed "large AI customer" under two four-year take-or-pay orders worth **$1.17 billion**. SOAR expects **$175 million to $200 million** of revenue from them in 2027\. On the [Neoclouds layer](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/neoclouds/), this is the smallest kind of GPU cloud: one site, one tenant, one chip supplier. ## What happened The update **Transformers and cooling gear are going in this week; first 4,096 GPUs due in service on 31 December** Substation, medium-voltage distribution and turbine backup power are commissioned. The hall reuses a paper mill that closed in 2025, with 154 MW available today and a roadmap to 480 MW The orders **Two four-year take-or-pay orders worth $1.17 billion, with about $133 million paid up front in stages** Announced on 28 September with a customer SOAR has not named. About $40 million of the prepayment was due after the first order was signed; the rest is tied to dates and equipment shipments The revenue **SOAR guides to $175 million to $200 million of 2027 revenue, starting in January** Revenue under the first order is subject to delivery and acceptance. The MI455X batch runs on AMD's Helios racks and the hall should be ready for it in February 2027 The money **An equity line of up to $1 billion, signed on 12 October, is the main funding source named so far** Sales are capped at $6 million a day and 19.99% of shares without a shareholder vote, and none can start until the SEC declares a resale registration effective ## Why cash cares A small GPU cloud makes money in a fixed order. It buys the chips, builds or rents the hall, switches the cluster on, and only then starts billing a tenant who has accepted the hardware. SOAR AI is at the second step. The power gear is commissioned and the cooling plant is going in, but the 8,128 AMD GPUs that the two orders need have to be bought and installed before the customer pays monthly. Start with who gets paid first: AMD. Every GPU in the contracted deployment is an AMD Instinct part, first the MI355X and then the MI455X on AMD's Helios rack, so AMD and the server and rack suppliers are paid as the hardware ships, months before SOAR bills a single GPU-hour. SOAR has not said what the GPUs cost or who is building the racks. The customer pays next, but only a slice. Of the $1.17 billion, about $133 million is prepayment, tied to dates and equipment shipments. That is roughly **11%** of the contract value, and about **$16,000** for each of the 8,128 contracted GPUs. The rest is paid over four years, after delivery and acceptance. SOAR is paid last. Its own guidance is $175 million to $200 million in 2027, which is **60% to 68%** of the average year in a $1.17 billion, four-year contract (**$292.5 million**). The gap is the timing: the MI455X batch does not enter service until 30 June 2027, so 2027 only carries half a year of it. Here is our own arithmetic, not a company figure. Spread evenly across 8,128 GPUs and four years, $1.17 billion is about **$36,000** per GPU per year, or about **$4.11** per GPU-hour, blended across two chip generations. SOAR has not split the contract value between the orders, so the real rate on each chip will differ. The contracted GPUs are about **50%** of the 16,192 the campus could hold, and the other **8,064** have no customer and no financing yet. The 154 megawatts available today are about **32%** of the 480-megawatt roadmap. ![SOAR AI's Ohio campus: $1.17 billion booked, paid in order of delivery](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/soar-ai-ohio-booked-not-billed-print-1.png) **Figure: Booked is not billed.** Who gets paid on SOAR AI's $1.17 billion of take-or-pay orders, in what order, and the dates each step depends on. The 11%, $16,000, 60% to 68%, $292.5 million, $4.11, 50% and 32% figures are our arithmetic on SOAR's releases of 28 September, 12 October and 20 October 2026. ## The step that is still open Delivery and acceptance on 31 December. The first order's revenue begins only when 4,096 GPUs are installed, running and accepted by the customer, and SOAR's releases say the orders carry delivery, acceptance, service-level and performance requirements. Missing that date pushes back the first invoice, and the second batch has its own contractual date six months later. Behind that sits the money for the hardware. The only funding source SOAR has named beyond the customer's prepayments is a $1 billion equity line. Its own terms cap sales at $6 million a day, so drawing the full amount at the cap would take at least **167** trading days, and the 19.99% share cap without a shareholder vote may bind sooner. As of its 12 October release, no sales could begin until the SEC declared a resale registration effective. SOAR's chief financial officer said the company will also use project-level financing and other sources, none of which has been announced. It is a hard week to ask: on 20 October shares of the Korean cloud provider Elice fell 30% on their market debut, and HSBC repeated its reduce rating on CoreWeave, citing debt-market stress. Ready is not paid. A commissioned substation makes the hall ready. It does not make the GPUs paid for, and SOAR earns nothing from the $1.17 billion until the chips are bought, installed and accepted. ## The second-order read **Who gets paid.** AMD and the hardware supply chain, as the GPUs and racks ship. Then SOAR, from January 2027, if the first cluster is accepted on time. **Who pays.** The unnamed customer, through about $133 million of prepayments now and take-or-pay fees for four years. SOAR's shareholders, if the equity line is drawn. **Who waits.** The other 8,064 GPU slots at the campus, which need both a customer and financing, and the 326 megawatts of the roadmap that are not yet available. **Stuck step.** Delivery and customer acceptance of 4,096 MI355X GPUs on 31 December 2026, with the hardware funded in time. ## Three cautions The customer is not named. SOAR describes it only as a "large AI customer", so readers cannot judge its credit or whether it could walk away under the acceptance and performance terms. SOAR is new to this. The company closed the merger that created its AI business less than two months before the 20 October update, by its chief executive's account, and it still runs a private aviation membership business. It has no record yet of running a GPU cluster for a paying tenant. The revenue figures are SOAR's own guidance. The $175 million to $200 million for 2027 depends on contracted rates that the company has not published and on service start dates it has not yet hit. ## What to watch - **31 December**: whether SOAR confirms the 4,096 MI355X GPUs are in service and accepted. - **Financing**: any project loan, lease or GPU-backed debt for the hardware, and whether the equity line's registration goes effective. - **The customer**: whether SOAR or the tenant names who it is. - **February 2027**: whether the hall is ready for the MI455X batch on AMD's Helios racks. - **The two open tranches**: any new order for the 8,064 uncontracted GPU slots, which SOAR targets for the second half of 2027. *Read: [Neoclouds](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/neoclouds/), [total contract value explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/total-contract-value-explained/), [Nvidia's $56B of neocloud commitments](https://www.sotkn.com/wire/nvidia-56b-neocloud-commitments-shakeout-wire/) and [CoreWeave's short contracts](https://www.sotkn.com/wire/coreweave-40m-mw-short-contracts-4-2gw-wire/)* --- **Get the Wire.** A free brief every day, here and in your inbox. **[Subscribe free →](https://www.sotkn.com/#/portal/signup)** Not investment advice. Do your own research. The 11%, $16,000, 60% to 68%, $292.5 million, $36,000, $4.11, 50%, 8,064, 32%, 326 megawatt and 167 trading day figures are our arithmetic. ## References 1. [SOAR AI, "SOAR AI's Ohio AI Compute Campus on Track for December 31 In-Service Date, with Contracted Revenue Expected to Begin January 2027"](https://ir.soarai.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/166/soar-ais-ohio-ai-compute-campus-on-track-for-december-31-in-service-date-with-contracted-revenue-expected-to-begin-january-2027?ref=sotkn.com), 20 Oct 2026\. Construction status, 4,096 MI355X and 4,032 MI455X GPUs, in-service dates, $175 million to $200 million 2027 revenue guidance, 154 MW and 480 MW, up to 16,192 GPUs. 2. [Volato Group, "Volato Group's Alignment Engine Subsidiary Signs $1.2 Billion in AI Infrastructure Orders with Large AI Customer"](https://ir.soarai.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/163/volato-groups-alignment-engine-subsidiary-signs-1-2-billion-in-ai-infrastructure-orders-with-large-ai-customer?ref=sotkn.com), 28 Sep 2026\. Two four-year take-or-pay orders, $1.17 billion, about $133 million of prepayments including about $40 million after execution. 3. [SOAR AI, "SOAR AI Secures Up to $1 Billion Equity Facility to Fund Expansion of Its AI Infrastructure Platform"](https://ir.soarai.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/165/soar-ai-secures-up-to-1-billion-equity-facility-to-fund-expansion-of-its-ai-infrastructure-platform?ref=sotkn.com), 12 Oct 2026\. $6 million daily cap, 19.99% issuance cap, registration required before any sale. 4. [CNBC, "Data center stocks remain under pressure after Korea IPO plunges 30%"](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/20/data-center-stocks-slide-as-korea-ipo-plunges-30percent-pressuring-tech-sentiment.html?ref=sotkn.com), 20 Oct 2026\. Neocloud sentiment on the day of the update, HSBC's debt-risk call on CoreWeave.