Volato Group completed its merger with Alignment Engine to enter the AI infrastructure market, bringing an operational O

Volato Group, Inc. announced the completion of its previously announced merger with Alignment Engine Inc., expanding Volato's business into artificial intelligence infrastructure while continuing to operate and grow its existing aviation software and AI business lines. With the merger complete, Volato enters the AI infrastructure market with its initial Ohio data center site under lease, power, water and water treatment infrastructure already operational at the site, and active development efforts underway. The Company is advancing the engineering, infrastructure, procurement and commercial work required to support its planned AI compute deployments.

The combination gives Volato an AI infrastructure platform designed to support high-density GPU compute, AI training and inference, high-performance networking and storage, and other compute-intensive workloads. According to Grand View Research, the global AI data center market was valued at 147.3 billion dollars in 2025 and is projected to reach 810.6 billion dollars by 2033, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 23.9 percent.

Chief Executive Officer Chris Ensey, appointed in connection with the merger closing, stated: "Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Volato. Our Ohio site is under lease, our teams are actively at work advancing the infrastructure, and with the merger now complete, our focus is execution. We are moving forward with the engineering, financing, procurement and customer work necessary to bring our planned AI compute deployments online. We believe the next generation of AI infrastructure has to be built with efficiency at its core, maximizing useful compute through efficient hardware, advanced cooling, intelligent resource utilization and thoughtful system design."

Because power, water and water treatment are already operating at the site, Volato starts its build at the equipment stage rather than the utility stage. Near-term work is concentrated on the procurement, financing and commercial steps required to energize compute. Current work includes engineering and infrastructure planning, equipment and technology procurement, utility coordination, and the development of customer deployments. The Company intends to bring capacity online in phases, aligning infrastructure deployment with customer requirements, equipment availability and the needs of the broader development.

Efficiency is a central component of that strategy. Alignment Engine intends to prioritize compute platforms and infrastructure capable of delivering greater computational output per unit of energy consumed, while utilizing advanced cooling technologies and operating practices designed to limit water requirements and improve overall facility efficiency.

The Company intends to market compute capacity directly to enterprise and other AI customers, coordinating phased development with utilities, local stakeholders and technology partners. Alignment Engine's strategy extends beyond data center development. The Company is building a technology platform that combines physical compute infrastructure with advanced networking, storage, orchestration and proprietary technologies designed to improve the utilization and coordination of AI computing resources. Alignment Engine's NeuralSync technology is designed to improve how accelerator resources are identified, coordinated and utilized across distributed AI infrastructure.

Following completion of the merger, Volato is focused on financing and procuring GPUs and related infrastructure for the initial Phase I deployment, beginning equipment installation and commissioning at the Ohio data center site, advancing direct customer agreements and contracted AI compute capacity, expanding AI infrastructure capacity in phases aligned with customer demand and efficient use of power, cooling and water, and continuing the growth of Volato's existing aviation software and AI businesses.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, former Alignment Engine securityholders received non-voting convertible preferred stock and replacement options and warrants that, upon conversion or exercise following receipt of the required stockholder and NYSE American listing approvals, are intended to collectively represent approximately 95 percent of the fully diluted equity of Volato immediately prior to the merger, with legacy Volato securityholders representing approximately 5 percent. The non-voting convertible preferred stock issued as merger consideration does not have conversion rights prior to receipt of the required stockholder approval and listing approval by the NYSE American. Volato intends to seek the required stockholder approvals at a future stockholder meeting. Volato's common stock will continue to trade on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol SOAR.