Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM) founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski said the company’s identity has broadened well beyond its roots as an independent video platform, arguing that its long-term strategy now spans media, advertising technology, and cloud infrastructure—including an expanded push into AI-focused GPU capacity through a pending acquisition.
From viral videos to “principled” free-expression positioning
Pavlovski said Rumble began in 2013 as a platform largely dominated by “cute cat” and “cute baby” videos, with little political content. He described a turning point around 2020, when he said increased online censorship, content suppression, and deplatforming by larger platforms created an opening for Rumble to grow by maintaining consistent rules and avoiding “moving the goalposts” during election cycles and COVID.
Advertising: from boycott to early brand engagement
On monetization, Pavlovski said Rumble’s advertising efforts have been constrained for years by what he characterized as a broad-based boycott from major brands from 2020 through 2024. He said that dynamic shifted after the presidential election, describing a change “literally overnight” as brands began initiating conversations.
As examples, he named Netflix, Chevron, and Crypto.com as advertisers that have recently engaged with Rumble. He added that broader industry changes are also helping, citing regulatory pressure and referencing Federal Trade Commission scrutiny tied to the IPG merger, which he said is pushing the industry toward requirements against political bias in media buying.
Pavlovski said Rumble has hired a president of ad sales (hired in the first quarter of the current year) to engage agencies and build a longer-term brand advertising pipeline. He described the ad sales process as gradual and said he hopes to see more meaningful traction around 2027. He also framed the opportunity in terms of monetization, pointing to a gap between Rumble’s average revenue per user and YouTube’s.
Product updates and live streaming performance
Discussing engagement drivers, Pavlovski highlighted live streaming performance during election coverage. He said that on election night in 2024, Rumble accounted for roughly 17% to 18% of the U.S. stream market, citing Streams Charts, with YouTube ranked first at roughly 60% to 70%.
He also described 2025 as a headwind year, noting it was not a presidential election year and saying Rumble lost a major live streamer, Dan Bongino, “to the FBI,” before later adding Bongino has returned to the platform. Pavlovski said 2026 feels more favorable, citing midterm elections as a potential tailwind and pointing to new product launches including Rumble Wallet and Rumble Shorts. He also said the platform is seeing creators who “have never really used Rumble before,” naming streamer Asmongold as a recent addition.
On technology, Pavlovski emphasized low-latency streaming as a differentiator, stating Rumble’s live-stream latency is about two seconds faster than YouTube’s (two seconds versus four seconds, as he described it), and suggested similar low-latency expertise could translate to AI inferencing workloads.
Tether relationship expands into wallet, advertising, and GPU commitments
Pavlovski described Rumble’s relationship with Tether as increasingly central. He said Rumble signed the investment deal in December 2024 and closed a $775 million investment in February 2025. He said Rumble and Tether collaborated on the launch of Rumble Wallet, enabling creators to be paid or tipped in Bitcoin, USDT, and Tether Gold, while keeping the offering “very simple” and focused on a limited set of digital assets.
He also highlighted two commercial agreements announced in November that he said the market “missed”:
- $100 million advertising deal with Tether, structured as $50 million per year for two years, which Pavlovski said begins to contribute materially in the second and third quarters of the current year and is intended to promote the wallet and bring creators to the platform.
- $150 million GPU-related deal with Tether, structured as $75 million per year for two years, which Pavlovski said would make Tether an anchor tenant for GPU purchases once the Northern Data acquisition closes.
Pavlovski also said Tether is expected to become Rumble’s largest shareholder after the Northern Data transaction closes, with Pavlovski becoming the second-largest shareholder. He said the ownership split is currently “about a third each,” and suggested Tether could be “close to around 50%” afterward, with the company’s cap table changing materially.
Northern Data acquisition: scale, utilization, and go-to-market priorities
Pavlovski said Rumble signed a deal in November 2025 to acquire Northern Data, which he described as one of the largest GPU estates in Europe. He said Northern Data has more than 20,000 H100 GPUs, nine data centers (including some it owns), and up to 180 megawatts of energized capacity in Atlanta, Georgia, with additional locations including Pittsburgh, Sweden, Portugal, and the U.K. He said the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of the current year.
Looking ahead to the first 12 to 18 months post-close, Pavlovski said a key milestone will be improving utilization. He referenced Northern Data’s latest operating report and said utilization ended the year around “65-ish,” adding that his goal is to get capacity “as close to sold out as possible.” He said if capacity sells out quickly, Rumble would consider further investment—particularly when contracts, such as the Tether GPU commitment, are in place.
He also outlined target customer categories for the AI/cloud effort, including governments (citing a deal with the government of El Salvador and tenders submitted to other countries) and smaller and mid-sized businesses. Pavlovski said he believes the future opportunity is in inferencing and practical “algorithms” embedded across industries, using an example of AI-driven farming applications to illustrate the kinds of workloads he expects to proliferate.
On capital intensity, Pavlovski acknowledged data center and GPU expansion can require large capital outlays, but said Rumble plans to align deployments with contracts and pursue growth “very aggressive but very smart,” emphasizing a focus on returns and “responsible” capital allocation.
Finally, he described an evolving internal balance between growth and profitability. He said Rumble has shifted at times from “foot on the gas” growth to focusing on getting to EBITDA positive, and that Tether’s ambitions lean toward growth. Pavlovski said he would like to see Rumble driving toward “really good EBITDA” within one to two years, while still remaining opportunistic on large growth opportunities.
About Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM)
Rumble Inc operates a video-sharing platform designed to offer creators and audiences an alternative to traditional social media and streaming services. The company’s primary business activities include hosting, distributing and monetizing user–generated and professional video content. Through its platform, Rumble enables content creators to retain a higher share of advertising revenue and maintain greater control over their intellectual property, while offering viewers open access to a wide range of videos spanning news, sports, entertainment and educational programming.
In addition to its core video platform, Rumble provides cloud–based video hosting and delivery services via Rumble Cloud, a content–delivery network (CDN) designed to support high–volume streaming and storage.
