Google to invest USD15bn in AI infrastructure, buy nuclear power in Finland

HELSINKI: Alphabet’s Google will invest at least €13 billion (USD15.1 billion) in AI infrastructure in nippy Nordic country Finland over the next two years, its biggest European investment, including a major deal for the supply of nuclear power.

The US firm said on Wednesday the AI infrastructure build-out would involve the development of three new data centres in the country’s north, where the temperature can drop well below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter.

The deal marks a major push for Google in Europe, where colder climes and stable grids in the Nordics offer an attractive location for energy- and water-intensive data centres that use huge amounts of energy to keep their computer servers cool. Freezing air can offer an efficient alternative. Alphabet this year increased its global investment to between USD195 billion and USD205 billion as it seeks to capture growing AI computing demand.

The Finland deal also includes a 22-year purchase agreement for up to 50% of the energy output of one of the country’s two nuclear plants, its operator Fortum said separately, which would help with electricity supply.

“We call this BYOP, bring your own power,” Google’s President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat told reporters in Helsinki. “This is Google’s first nuclear energy deal outside of the United States.”

Nuclear power, as a source of large amounts of low-carbon energy, is one of the attractions Finland offers as companies including Microsoft and TikTok owner ByteDance as well as Google seek sites for data centres while containing energy costs and meeting climate goals.