OpenAI to launch AI data center in Norway, its first in Europe

[ad_1] OpenAI stated Thursday that it plans to launch Stargate Norway, its first AI knowledge middle in Europe, in partnership with British AI cloud infrastructure supplier Nscale and Norwegian vitality infrastructure agency Aker.

Nscale will design and construct the location, and it will likely be a 50/50 three way partnership between the 2 corporations. OpenAI might be an “off-taker” within the challenge, shopping for capability from the information middle.

The announcement comes as Europe races to realize AI sovereignty and spend money on knowledge facilities and compute energy. Earlier this week, the bloc unveiled particulars of its multi-billion-dollar funding into AI infrastructure, together with 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) to arrange 13 AI factories and 20 billion euros as an preliminary funding within the factories. Knowledge sovereignty is vital to that mission, as a result of delicate nature of enterprise and authorities knowledge.

It’s not clear if OpenAI’s knowledge middle is part of the European Union’s plans to scale AI at house, and OpenAI didn't instantly remark when contacted by TechCrunch. Nscale CEO Josh Payne instructed CNBC that a part of the aim of this challenge is to “leverage European sovereign compute” for the advantage of the continent. Norway’s AI ecosystem, like startups and scientific researchers, will get precedence entry to the middle.

CNBC additionally reported that Nscale and Aker have every dedicated round $1 billion to the preliminary 20 megawatt (MW) section of the challenge. OpenAI says Stargate Norway will initially ship 230 MW capability, with plans to increase to 290 MW, and can run on 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the top of 2026.

The positioning might be positioned close to Narvik, a small city in northern Norway. OpenAI stated in a weblog publish the area is notable for its entry to hydropower, a cool local weather, and a “mature industrial base.”

“The power will run totally on renewable energy and is anticipated to include closed-loop, direct-to-chip liquid cooling to make sure most cooling effectivity,” stated OpenAI. “Moreover, extra warmth from the GPU methods might be made obtainable to help low-carbon enterprises within the area.”

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Per the EU AI Act, which took impact in August 2024 and bans methods with “unacceptable danger,” corporations constructing knowledge facilities should take steps to guard the atmosphere and be clear in regards to the vitality consumption of AI fashions. Moreover, the bloc’s Power Effectivity Directive emphasizes vitality effectivity within the ICT sector, which incorporates knowledge facilities. The directive additionally directs knowledge facilities exceeding sure vitality enter thresholds to recuperate waste warmth.

The Stargate Norway announcement comes seven months after OpenAI introduced it could make investments $500 billion into 10 gigawatts of AI infrastructure in the USA over the subsequent 4 years, in partnership with Oracle and Softbank. The deal additionally follows the launch of Stargate UAE earlier this 12 months, and a not too long ago signed take care of the UK authorities to speed up AI adoption and enhance infrastructure.