OpenAI has announced the launch of Stargate Norway, its first AI data center initiative in Europe under the OpenAI for Countries program. Stargate serves as OpenAI’s overarching infrastructure platform and forms a critical part of its long-term vision to deliver the benefits of AI globally.
As a foundational technology, AI has the potential to boost productivity, drive economic growth, and power new industries. Establishing large-scale compute capacity in Europe will help ensure this transformation benefits people and communities, including developers, researchers, scientists, and startups, across Norway and the wider European region.
Across the continent, millions of people and businesses use ChatGPT and our API every day. 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.
Stargate Norway partners include Nscale, a leading AI infrastructure provider with experience delivering cloud infrastructure across Europe and North America, and Aker, with its century-long legacy in energy and industry. 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.
Stargate Norway is planned to deliver 230MW of capacity, with ambitions to expand 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.
This is one of the most ambitious AI infrastructure investments in Europe to date. Narvik’s abundant hydropower, low-cost energy, cool climate, and mature industrial base make it an ideal location to deliver large-scale, sustainable AI capacity.
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.
Aker and Nscale will also work to provide priority access to Norway’s AI ecosystem, ensuring homegrown AI start-ups 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.
“Announcing Stargate Norway and delivering one of the first European AI Gigafactory to market is a strategic milestone for the region and boosts its role in the global AI landscape,” said Josh Payne, CEO of Nscale. “Sovereign, scalable and sustainable infrastructure is now essential to remain competitive. We’re proud to partner with Aker, drawing on the team’s extensive experience and impressive track record, to deliver a new generation of AI economic and productivity growth in Europe. Together, we are combining OpenAI’s leading models with Nscale’s vertically integrated AI cloud, to provide the sustainable infrastructure necessary to support public benefit, build industrial resilience and enable long-term regional innovation.”
“Norway has a proud history of turning clean, renewable energy into industrial value, powering global industries like aluminium and fertiliser,” said Øyvind Eriksen, President & CEO of Aker. “Today, artificial intelligence and advanced data operations represent the next wave of value creation. Northern Norway, with its surplus of clean energy, available capacity, and industrial readiness, is the ideal launchpad for this transformation. With Stargate Norway, we’re creating new jobs, activity, and long-term opportunities in Narvik and the region. For Aker, this is a natural evolution of our industrial platform. As data centres shift from cost centres to value-generating assets, Norway’s energy advantage becomes a catalyst for the next generation of digital industry. We’re proud to help drive this development alongside Nscale, OpenAI, and local stakeholders.”
“Europe needs more compute to realize the full potential of AI for all Europeans — from developers and researchers to startups and scientists — and we want to help make that happen,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “I’ve always said we’d love to bring Stargate to Europe if the conditions are right, and we think we’ve found that in Narvik with clean, affordable energy, ideal climate, and great partners in Nscale and Aker. Stargate Norway will help provide the compute power to drive the next wave of AI breakthroughs and economic progress for Europe, in Europe.”
