Yandex

$12.3B in 2024 revenue marked Yandex’s post-split resilience, while its former parent Nebius became an AI-cloud supplier to Microsoft.

Who they are

Yandex is a Russian search and advertising company whose coverage also spans its former corporate parent, now Amsterdam-based AI-cloud provider Nebius, and spinoffs including autonomous-driving company Avride. It appears as a major domestic internet platform navigating Russian regulation and a long-running rivalry with Google, while its separation from the international business has created a distinct Nebius storyline.

The recent arc

Coverage intensified around the 2024 restructuring: Yandex agreed to sell its Russian business, including its search engine, to a Yandex-management-led group for about $5.2 billion, while the former Yandex NV rebranded as Nebius. By early 2025, Reuters reported that the Russian search and ad business had grown 2024 revenue 37% year over year to roughly $12.3 billion and forecast growth above 30% for 2025; this period was the recent coverage high point.

The recent arc

The story then broadened beyond the separation. A Russian court required Yandex to restrict search access to maps and photos of an oil refinery amid Ukrainian drone attacks; researchers reported that Meta and Yandex could glean some logged-in Android users’ browsing histories through web identifiers; and Avride partnered with Hyundai on driverless ride-hailing cars. In parallel, Nebius’s AI-cloud trajectory moved into sharper focus through Nvidia-backed funding and a reported Microsoft capacity agreement worth up to $19.4 billion through 2031.

The tension

The central tension is between Yandex’s Russian-platform role and the international technology businesses that emerged from its split. Yandex has historically challenged Google’s Android distribution practices in Russia, but current scrutiny also centers on its own Android-linked data collection and compliance with Russian information controls. Nebius and Avride, meanwhile, are being judged against global AI-cloud and autonomous-mobility competitors rather than solely Russian internet rivals.

Why it matters

If the current trajectory holds, Yandex’s operating performance could show that its Russian business remains commercially significant after the corporate separation, even as regulatory and privacy pressures define its public-risk profile. Nebius’s expanding relationship with Microsoft would make the split consequential beyond ownership mechanics, potentially positioning the former Yandex international business as a meaningful AI-infrastructure provider; whether that momentum persists depends on execution and competitive pressure in cloud computing.

Related: Russia · Google · Arkady Volozh · Android · US SEC filing: Microsoft signs a deal worth up to $19.4B through 2031 · Researchers detail a technique Meta and Yandex use to glean some logge