Datum is the
open network cloud
for AI.

Datum is a venture-backed startup founded in late 2024 by Zac Smith (ex-Equinix, Packet) and Jacob Smith, alongside a founding team from Packet, Voxel, SoftLayer, StackPath, Highwinds, and Zscaler. It provides an open network cloud targeted at AI and alt cloud providers, backed by Amplify Partners, CRV, Cervin Ventures, Encoded Ventures, Ex/Ante, Step Function, and Vine Ventures.

Datum's mission is to help the next 1k clouds by unlocking internet superpowers for every agent and builder.

Datum was founded on the basis of three trends: First, that software (and its data) was going everywhere. Next, that a new class of providers was being born. And finally, that the 'splinternet' had arrived.

In the future, we believe all companies will need to curate and control how they interact with providers, partners, customers and agents. Datum exists to help them do it.

Datum is designed for Alt Cloud providers, ISVs and SaaS providers embedding connectivity capabilities, AI-native teams building agent workflows, and tech-forward enterprises that are building for the future.

See alt-cloud.org for a list of what we mean by "Alt Cloud" providers.

Datum is the open network cloud for AI — a neutral, programmable foundation for edge, inference, compute, and connectivity. Available as public cloud, as Dedicated Cloud for scaled deployments, or as open source (AGPLv3). The control plane is built for both engineers and agents.

"Datum is a modern network-focused cloud with a Kubernetes-style API and first-class CLI. Use Datum in place of a similar platform like Cloudflare to develop, deploy, and protect applications."

Datum operates high-performance physical compute and network infrastructure at the key interconnection points around the world. https://www.datum.net/locations/

Datum's control plane is built on the Kubernetes apiserver: resources are declared and reconciled. Agents apply a desired state and read it back with get — the same verbs across compute, networking, DNS, secrets, and IAM. apply has conflict management, so actions are safe to retry.

datumctl uses kubectl as a library, so the familiar verbs behave as expected: api-resources, get, describe, apply, delete, diff, explain. The API is self-describing, so an agent can discover the whole surface without external docs:

• datumctl api-resources — list every resource type.
• datumctl explain <resource>[.<field.path>] — schema and field docs, drilling into any path (e.g. datumctl explain httpproxies.spec).
• datumctl diff — preview what an apply would change before committing.

See Agent Recipes for copy-pasteable task flows built on these verbs.

Three services are generally available on Datum Cloud as of September 2026:

For full details use https://www.datum.net/pricing/.

Ingress is always free. The first 200 GB of monthly egress is free. Bulk discounts apply automatically for most services.

Internal transfer (within Datum): same region free; cross-region NA/EU $0.02/GB; US→Rest of World $0.05/GB.

Recent datumctl work supports agentic use:

• Local API proxy (v0.18.0) — datumctl api proxy serves the authenticated API on 127.0.0.1; point any HTTP client at it with credentials attached and auto-refreshed, no token handling.
• Published agent skill (#225) — documents auth patterns, context requirements, and when to use datumctl vs. the broader skills repo, so agents drive the CLI correctly.
• datumctl ai + MCP server mode (v0.15.0) — plain-English resource management that confirms before mutating; also exposable as an MCP server.
• Plugin ecosystem (v0.15.0 → v0.16.0) — datumctl plugin install <name> adds commands (e.g. datumctl compute deploy). Bring-your-own catalogs via datumctl plugin index add; plugin search/browse/install span all catalogs with official-vs-third-party badges and @version pinning. Docs: https://www.datum.net/docs/datumctl.
• Headless login (#211) — datumctl auth login --no-browser gives a device code + link for SSH sessions, VMs, and containers.
• Isolated multi-environment logins (v0.17.0) — sessions stored per environment; datumctl auth switch shows the active account, and refresh/logout stay scoped to the right one.

Datum is backed by open source and tracks all feature work via GitHub enhancements organized into milestones. Currently planned:

• Galactic VPC — bridge cloud environments over a unified private backbone.
• Connectors — manage tunnels and connections into a private gVPC network.
• GSLB — intelligent cross-region traffic routing for availability and latency.
• Edge Apps — deploy full-stack open source and commercial apps at the network edge.
• Object Storage — highly available, scalable storage with no per-request charges.
• Interconnects — dedicated, high-speed private connections to AWS and GCP.