LightOn

Sovereign enterprise GenAI platform deployed on-prem, air-gapped, or EU cloud

Nebius AI

European GPU cloud and LLM inference platform built for AI-native businesses

LightOn

Excellent

22/25

Nebius AI

Strong

20/25

Score Breakdown

DimensionLightOnNebius AI

Data Residency

Where is your data stored and processed?

LightOn: Deploys on-premise, in customer VPC, or air-gapped on EU infrastructure, so data never leaves the customer's own security perimeter. Strongest possible residency posture.

Nebius AI: Data centres located in Finland and the Netherlands—both EU member states. Inference and compute workloads remain within EU borders. Strong data residency story for European AI builders.

5/5

Deploys on-premise, in customer VPC, or air-gapped on EU infrastructure, so data never leaves the customer's own security perimeter. Strongest possible residency posture.

5/5

Data centres located in Finland and the Netherlands—both EU member states. Inference and compute workloads remain within EU borders. Strong data residency story for European AI builders.

Legal Jurisdiction

Which laws govern the company and your data?

LightOn: French SA incorporated in France, listed on Euronext Growth Paris, with no US parent. Fully under EU/French jurisdiction.

Nebius AI: Incorporated as Nebius Group N.V. under Dutch law. EU legal jurisdiction applies, with no CLOUD Act exposure. Corporate history as Yandex spin-off warrants due diligence on ownership structure, but current governance is EU-based.

5/5

French SA incorporated in France, listed on Euronext Growth Paris, with no US parent. Fully under EU/French jurisdiction.

4/5

Incorporated as Nebius Group N.V. under Dutch law. EU legal jurisdiction applies, with no CLOUD Act exposure. Corporate history as Yandex spin-off warrants due diligence on ownership structure, but current governance is EU-based.

Data Retention & Training

Is your data used for model training?

LightOn: In-perimeter deployment means no customer data is sent out or used to train shared models, and retention is governed by the customer's own infrastructure. Scored 4 rather than 5 as public DPA/retention-control documentation is limited.

Nebius AI: Customer inference requests and training data are not used to train shared models. Tenant isolation architecture. GDPR-compliant data processing posture with configurable retention for enterprise customers.

4/5

In-perimeter deployment means no customer data is sent out or used to train shared models, and retention is governed by the customer's own infrastructure. Scored 4 rather than 5 as public DPA/retention-control documentation is limited.

4/5

Customer inference requests and training data are not used to train shared models. Tenant isolation architecture. GDPR-compliant data processing posture with configurable retention for enterprise customers.

Certifications

ISO 27001, SOC 2, Cyber Essentials, etc.

LightOn: Holds SOC 2 Type 1. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II are not confirmed in published sources, and ANSSI SecNumCloud appears to be a positioning goal rather than a confirmed qualification.

Nebius AI: ISO 27001 certification in place. As a relatively new independent entity, the broader certification portfolio (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701) is still developing. Expect maturation over 2025-2026.

3/5

Holds SOC 2 Type 1. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II are not confirmed in published sources, and ANSSI SecNumCloud appears to be a positioning goal rather than a confirmed qualification.

3/5

ISO 27001 certification in place. As a relatively new independent entity, the broader certification portfolio (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701) is still developing. Expect maturation over 2025-2026.

Regulatory Fit

Suitability for regulated industries and professional services

LightOn: Purpose-built for regulated and sovereign EU buyers, with public-sector and defense/aerospace references (CNES, Safran, French tax authority) and GDPR/AI Act alignment.

Nebius AI: Excellent fit for European organisations building AI applications and needing EU-sovereign inference infrastructure. Dutch incorporation, EU data centres, and GDPR-compliant DPA make this suitable for most regulated EU use cases. Financial services and healthcare organisations should review specifics with Nebius.

5/5

Purpose-built for regulated and sovereign EU buyers, with public-sector and defense/aerospace references (CNES, Safran, French tax authority) and GDPR/AI Act alignment.

4/5

Excellent fit for European organisations building AI applications and needing EU-sovereign inference infrastructure. Dutch incorporation, EU data centres, and GDPR-compliant DPA make this suitable for most regulated EU use cases. Financial services and healthcare organisations should review specifics with Nebius.

Total Score

22/25

20/25

Best For

LightOn

Best for EU-headquartered organisations needing maximum data sovereignty; regulated industries (CNIL, AMF); privacy-conscious teams who need strong data retention controls; organisations that need self-hosted or on-premise deployment.

Nebius AI

Best for EU-headquartered organisations needing maximum data sovereignty; regulated industries (CNIL, BaFin); privacy-conscious teams who need strong data retention controls.

Detailed Comparison

LightOn vs Nebius AI: Trust & Compliance Comparison

LightOn (LightOn, FR) scores 22/25 overall with a Gold (Excellent) trust badge. Sovereign enterprise GenAI platform deployed on-prem, air-gapped, or EU cloud. Nebius AI (Nebius, NL) scores 20/25 with a Silver (Strong) trust badge. European GPU cloud and LLM inference platform built for AI-native businesses.

Dimension-by-Dimension Breakdown

#### Data Residency

Both score equally at 5/5.

●LightOn (5/5): Deploys on-premise, in customer VPC, or air-gapped on EU infrastructure, so data never leaves the customer's own security perimeter. Strongest possible residency posture.

●Nebius AI (5/5): Data centres located in Finland and the Netherlands—both EU member states. Inference and compute workloads remain within EU borders. Strong data residency story for European AI builders.

#### Legal Jurisdiction

LightOn leads with 5/5 vs 4/5.

●LightOn (5/5): French SA incorporated in France, listed on Euronext Growth Paris, with no US parent. Fully under EU/French jurisdiction.

●Nebius AI (4/5): Incorporated as Nebius Group N.V. under Dutch law. EU legal jurisdiction applies, with no CLOUD Act exposure. Corporate history as Yandex spin-off warrants due diligence on ownership structure, but current governance is EU-based.

#### Data Retention & Training

Both score equally at 4/5.

●LightOn (4/5): In-perimeter deployment means no customer data is sent out or used to train shared models, and retention is governed by the customer's own infrastructure. Scored 4 rather than 5 as public DPA/retention-control documentation is limited.

●Nebius AI (4/5): Customer inference requests and training data are not used to train shared models. Tenant isolation architecture. GDPR-compliant data processing posture with configurable retention for enterprise customers.

#### Certifications

Both score equally at 3/5.

●LightOn (3/5): Holds SOC 2 Type 1. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II are not confirmed in published sources, and ANSSI SecNumCloud appears to be a positioning goal rather than a confirmed qualification.

●Nebius AI (3/5): ISO 27001 certification in place. As a relatively new independent entity, the broader certification portfolio (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701) is still developing. Expect maturation over 2025-2026.

#### Regulatory Fit

LightOn leads with 5/5 vs 4/5.

●LightOn (5/5): Purpose-built for regulated and sovereign EU buyers, with public-sector and defense/aerospace references (CNES, Safran, French tax authority) and GDPR/AI Act alignment.

●Nebius AI (4/5): Excellent fit for European organisations building AI applications and needing EU-sovereign inference infrastructure. Dutch incorporation, EU data centres, and GDPR-compliant DPA make this suitable for most regulated EU use cases. Financial services and healthcare organisations should review specifics with Nebius.

Certifications at a Glance

Certification	LightOn	Nebius AI
ISO 27001	No	Yes
SOC 2 Type 1	Yes	No

Overall Verdict

LightOn has a clear trust advantage, scoring 22/25 compared to Nebius AI's 20/25. LightOn particularly excels in legal jurisdiction, regulatory fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for EU compliance, LightOn or Nebius AI?

LightOn has a TrustKit score of 22/25 while Nebius AI scores 20/25. LightOn currently rates higher across data residency, legal jurisdiction, data retention, certifications, and regulatory fit.

How do LightOn and Nebius AI compare on data residency?

LightOn scores 5/5 for data residency (Deploys on-premise, in customer VPC, or air-gapped on EU infrastructure, so data never leaves the customer's own security perimeter. Strongest possible residency posture.), while Nebius AI scores 5/5 (Data centres located in Finland and the Netherlands—both EU member states. Inference and compute workloads remain within EU borders. Strong data residency story for European AI builders.).

Are LightOn and Nebius AI GDPR compliant?

Both tools are assessed across five compliance dimensions. LightOn has a regulatory fit score of 5/5 and Nebius AI scores 4/5. Check the full comparison above for a detailed breakdown.

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