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

Openai said on Thursday that it plans to launch Stargate Norway, the first data center for Amnesty International, in partnership with the British cloud infrastructure provider NSCALE and the Norwegian Energy Infrastructure Company.

NSCAE will design and create the site, and it will be a 50/50 joint project between the two companies. Openai will be “outside the classified” in the project, and buy the ability of the data center.

This advertisement comes at a time when Europe is suitable for achieving the sovereignty of artificial intelligence and investing in data centers and energy account. Earlier this week, the bloc revealed the details of its billions of dollars in investments in the infrastructure of Amnesty International, including 10 billion euros (11.8 billion dollars) to establish 13 factories of artificial intelligence and 20 billion euros as a preliminary investment in factories. Data is the key to that task, due to the sensitive nature of commercial and governmental data.

It is not clear whether the Openai data center is part of the European Union’s plans to expand the scope of artificial intelligence at home, and Openai was not immediately suspended when connected to Techcrunch. Josh Payne, CEO of NSCALE CNBC, told the purpose of this project to “benefit from the European sovereignty account” for the continent. The ecosystem in Norway, such as startups and scientific researchers, will receive the priority of reaching the center.

CNBC also reported that NSCAE and Aker have committed about one billion dollars for 20 MW of the project. Openai says that Stargate Norway will initially provide a capacity of 230 MW, with plans to expand to 290 MW, and will be operated on 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the end of 2026.

The site is located near Narvik, a small town in northern Norway. Openai said in a blog publication that the area is noticeable to access hydroelectric energy, a great climate, and a “mature industrial base”.

“The elbow will be completely operated on renewable energy and is expected to include a liquid and direct liquid cooling to ensure maximum cooling efficiency,” Openai said. “In addition, the extra heat of GPU will be provided to support low carbon institutions in the region.”

According to the European Union law of Amnesty International, which came into effect in August 2024 and prohibiting “unacceptable risks”, companies must build data centers steps to protect the environment and transparency about energy consumption of artificial intelligence models. In addition, the direction of the power efficiency in the energy efficiency in the information and communications technology sector, which includes data centers, confirms. The guidance also directs data centers that exceed some energy entry thresholds to restore waste temperature.

The Stargate Norway announces seven months after Openai’s announcement that it will invest $ 500 billion in 10 GB of Amnesty International Infrastructure in the United States over the next four years, in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank. The deal also follows the launch of Stargate UAE earlier this year, and a recent agreement with the UK government to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and enhance infrastructure.