OpenAI announced Stargate Norway, the company’s first AI data centre initiative in Europe under its OpenAI for Countries program. The announcement follows the launch of Stargate UAE⁠ earlier this year.

“Stargate is OpenAI’s overarching infrastructure platform and is a critical part of our long-term vision to deliver the benefits of AI to everyone,” says the company.

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With Stargate Norway, OpenAI aims to bring large-scale compute capacity to Europe to support a broad range of public and private sector use cases across research, science, technology, and entrepreneurship.

According to the company, in Norway alone, the number of weekly active ChatGPT users has quadrupled in the past year, most of them under 35, and includes thousands of local developers.

OpenAI powering Norway’s AI ecosystem and beyond

OpenAI has selected Narvik as its site due to abundant hydropower, cost-effective green energy, cool climate, and a mature industrial ecosystem, an ideal setting for sustainable high-performance computing.

Stargate Norway is planned to deliver 230MW of capacity in its first phase, with plans to scale up by an additional 290MW. The facility will target to deliver 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by the end of 2026, with the intention to expand significantly in the years ahead. 

The facility will run entirely on renewable power and is expected to incorporate closed-loop, direct-to-chip liquid cooling to ensure maximum cooling efficiency.

Additionally, excess heat from the GPU systems will be made available to support low-carbon enterprises in the region.

The project is being developed in partnership with Nscale, an AI infrastructure provider with a strong track record across Europe and North America, and Aker, a Norwegian industrial powerhouse.

The site will be designed and built by Nscale and is expected to be owned by a 50/50 joint venture between Nscale and Aker. 

Aker and Nscale will also work to provide priority access to Norway’s AI ecosystem, ensuring homegrown AI startups and scientific researchers can benefit from the additional compute capacity.

Surplus capacity will be made available to public and private sector users across the UK, Nordics and Northern Europe, serving regional demand and accelerating the development of  Europe’s AI ecosystem.

“While in Norway, OpenAI will also engage with government officials to explore opportunities for collaboration, including boosting AI adoption and helping to deliver on Norway’s sovereign AI goals for the benefit of its people,” says the company.