On a random morning, a farmer in Rajasthan receives a government subsidy directly into his Jan Dhan account. A nurse in Patna verifies her identity at a hospital counter with a face scan. A student in Lucknow opens ChatGPT to prepare for a competitive exam. None of them thinks about what makes it possible. That is what infrastructure does: it disappears into the background of daily life until something forces it back into view.Data centres are being forced back into view. Around the world, the facilities that store data, run applications, and power artificial intelligence are under fire for the resources they consume – water, electricity, and land – in quantities that strain the cities built around them. In India, that conversation is arriving alongside one of the largest waves of digital infrastructure investment the country has ever seen. Before joining it, India needs to honestly answer one question that most of that debate skips: can it actually stop building these facilities?The answer, examined carefully, seems no. But the reason is more specific, and more important, than most people realise.<h2>The invisible engine</h2>According to the Press Information Bureau, UPI processed 18.39 billion transactions in June 2025 alone, worth over Rs 24.03 lakh crore, serving 491 million individuals, 65 million merchants, and 675 banks on a single platform. The National Payments Corporation of India reports that UPI accounts for 85 per cent of all digital transactions in India and nearly 50 per cent of all real-time digital payments globally.But here is what the debate rarely surfaces: UPI is not simply running on conventional server infrastructure. Artificial intelligence is already inside it. Earlier, NPCI's Chief Risk Officer Viswanath Krishnamurthy disclosed that the organisation is deploying AI-based analytical models to assign real-time risk scores to UPI transactions, a response to fraud on the platform climbing 85 per cent in FY 2023-24, with losses reaching Rs 1,087 crore. Speaking at Mumbai Tech Week 2026, NPCI Managing Director and CEO Dilip Asbe earlier highlighted that AI will be central to taking UPI from 750 million toward one billion daily transactions, through fraud detection, credit access, and multilingual voice onboarding for the next wave of users, as reported by Technology website TechCrunch.Aadhaar carries the same story. The AI and machine learning-based face authentication system developed entirely in-house by UIDAI has recorded over 130.5 crore cumulative transactions since its introduction in October 2022, with close to 102 crore of those occurring in FY 2024-25 alone, a growth rate that MeitY described as a 21.6 percent month-on-month jump in March 2025. The system runs welfare delivery across PM-JAY, PM Kisan, PM Awas, PM Ujjwala, and PM Internship, flagship government schemes reaching hundreds of millions of Indians. Every face scan on every one of those transactions runs an AI model on a server inside a data centre.The boundary between conventional digital infrastructure and AI infrastructure does not exist in India's public systems. AI is already built into them.Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/openai-discussed-giving-us-government-a-5-stake-what-it-could-mean-for-the-future-of-ai-1783099768026">OpenAI discussed giving US government a 5% stake: What it could mean for the future of AI</a><h2>The 100 million question</h2>In February 2026, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disclosed in an article published in the Times of India, ahead of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, that India has 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users, making it the platform's second-largest market globally after the United States, a position it has held for several months. India also has the largest student population using ChatGPT of any country on earth. Google's Gemini, meanwhile, is being offered free for 18 months to over 500 million Jio subscribers, with India ranking highest globally in Gemini usage for learning, according to Google.This is the dimension of the data centre debate that goes largely unacknowledged. The same people raising concerns about AI infrastructure expansion are, in enormous numbers, among the heaviest users of the AI products those facilities exist to power. Every ChatGPT query, every Gemini response, every AI-assisted search runs through a data centre drawing power from the grid and water from the city around it. The infrastructure being questioned outside city limits is being quietly used, at scale, every day, on the phones in people's pockets.This is not an argument against scrutiny. It is an argument for honesty about what, exactly, is being scrutinised.<h2>Not infrastructure, but sovereignty</h2>The case for domestic data centre capacity is not only an operational one. It is a sovereignty argument, and India has been building the legal architecture to support it for years.The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, enacted on August 11, 2023, and operationalised through DPDP Rules notified by MeitY on November 13, 2025, creates a rights-based, consent-driven framework governing how companies collect, store, and process the personal data of Indian citizens. The Reserve Bank of India has separately mandated that all payment system data be stored exclusively on Indian soil. Both frameworks only carry force if the physical infrastructure to underpin them exists within Indian jurisdiction.According to JLL's India Data Centre Market Report for the first half of 2025, India generates approximately 20 percent of global data while hosting only around three percent of global data centre capacity. That gap is a strategic exposure that no legislation can close without the infrastructure to match it. DPDPA is of limited consequence if Indian citizen data resides on servers in Singapore or Frankfurt, beyond the reach of Indian courts and regulators."When you are building a payments platform or a banking application in India, data localisation shapes architectural decisions from day one, where data is stored, how it moves between services, and how you handle latency-sensitive transactions in real time," Rama Krishna Sreepada, Co-Founder and Chief Architect at [x]Cube Labs, told WION. "The gap between the volume of data India generates and the infrastructure available to process it locally is where the real risk lives. When infrastructure is stretched, response times degrade, redundancy shrinks, and recovery windows get longer. For an end user, that is a failed transaction at a payment terminal or a banking app unavailable when it matters most."Also read | B<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/beyond-ai-models-anthropic-is-exploring-a-custom-ai-chip-with-samsung-here-s-why-it-matters-1783063066423">eyond AI models: Anthropic is exploring a custom AI chip with Samsung. Here's why it matters</a><h2>Why the world is betting on India</h2>The scale of committed investment makes the direction of travel unmistakable. Microsoft has pledged $17.5 billion toward data centre infrastructure in India, announced in December 2025. Google committed $6 billion to a facility in Andhra Pradesh in July 2025. The Adani Group announced $100 billion in AI-ready capacity by 2035, in partnership with both companies. According to Colliers, India's live data centre capacity will triple from 1,263 MW in 2024 to 4,500 MW by 2030. Deloitte projects total investment in the sector reaching up to $200 billion by 2030. The four largest global hyperscalers collectively planned up to $725 billion in capital expenditure for 2026, with approximately 75 percent directed toward AI infrastructure, according to company earnings disclosures and IEEE Communications Society analysis.This capital is not arriving out of goodwill. It is arriving because India's billion-scale digital population, its accelerating AI adoption, its data localisation requirements, and its improving infrastructure make it one of the most strategically consequential data centre markets in the world for the next decade."Rack power densities are increasing from around 15 kW to as much as 140 kW, while most new developments are being planned as Tier III and Tier IV facilities requiring greater power redundancy," said Gautam Saraf, Executive Managing Director, Mumbai and New Business at Cushman &amp; Wakefield, which advises hyperscalers, operators, and investors on data centre strategy across India. "Speed to power is now a critical determinant of project viability, with grid connection timelines increasingly shaping investment decisions."Watch | AI job shock? California study tracks rising layoffs since ChatGPT launch<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-job-shock-california-study-tracks-rising-layoffs-since-chatgpt-launch-1783012300163/embed">https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-job-shock-california-study-tracks-rising-layoffs-since-chatgpt-launch-1783012300163/embed</a><h2>The answer</h2>So the question of whether India can stop building data centres is not really about data centres at all. It is a question about whether India can afford to switch off the AI system authenticating 130 crore Aadhaar face scans annually. Whether it can remove the fraud detection layer from hundreds of millions of daily UPI transactions. Whether it can tell 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, the largest student AI user base on the planet, that the infrastructure powering their tools will not be built here.None of those are realistic options. "Every banking app, every UPI transaction, every digital lending decision runs on physical infrastructure somewhere, and the stability of those services is directly tied to the health of that infrastructure," Sreepada told WION. "Closing the data centre capacity gap is the next critical step in making that progress genuinely resilient at scale” he added.India must build this infrastructure. The only question that remains, and it is the more consequential one, is on whose terms, at what cost to its water systems and power grid, and with what accountability framework in place.That is exactly where Part 2 of this series begins.The infrastructure is non-negotiable. What happens inside it, around it, and because of it, that is where the real debate begins.

Microsoft put in $17.5 billion, Google $6 billion, Adani $100 billion. The world has already decided India needs this infrastructure. The question India has not answered yet is whether it will build it on its own terms or someone else's.

On a random morning, a farmer in Rajasthan receives a government subsidy directly into his Jan Dhan account. A nurse in Patna verifies her identity at a hospital counter with a face scan. A student in Lucknow opens ChatGPT to prepare for a competitive exam. None of them thinks about what makes it possible. That is what infrastructure does: it disappears into the background of daily life until something forces it back into view. Data centres are being forced back into view. Around the world, the facilities that store data, run applications, and power artificial intelligence are under fire for the resources they consume – water, electricity, and land – in quantities that strain the cities built around them. In India, that conversation is arriving alongside one of the largest waves of digital infrastructure investment the country has ever seen. Before joining it, India needs to honestly answer one question that most of that debate skips: can it actually stop building these facilities? The answer, examined carefully, seems no. But the reason is more specific, and more important, than most people realise. The invisible engine According to the Press Information Bureau, UPI processed 18.39 billion transactions in June 2025 alone, worth over Rs 24.03 lakh crore, serving 491 million individuals, 65 million merchants, and 675 banks on a single platform. The National Payments Corporation of India reports that UPI accounts for 85 per cent of all digital transactions in India and nearly 50 per cent of all real-time digital payments globally. But here is what the debate rarely surfaces: UPI is not simply running on conventional server infrastructure. Artificial intelligence is already inside it. Earlier, NPCI's Chief Risk Officer Viswanath Krishnamurthy disclosed that the organisation is deploying AI-based analytical models to assign real-time risk scores to UPI transactions, a response to fraud on the platform climbing 85 per cent in FY 2023-24, with losses reaching Rs 1,087 crore. Speaking at Mumbai Tech Week 2026, NPCI Managing Director and CEO Dilip Asbe earlier highlighted that AI will be central to taking UPI from 750 million toward one billion daily transactions, through fraud detection, credit access, and multilingual voice onboarding for the next wave of users, as reported by Technology website TechCrunch. Aadhaar carries the same story. The AI and machine learning-based face authentication system developed entirely in-house by UIDAI has recorded over 130.5 crore cumulative transactions since its introduction in October 2022, with close to 102 crore of those occurring in FY 2024-25 alone, a growth rate that MeitY described as a 21.6 percent month-on-month jump in March 2025. The system runs welfare delivery across PM-JAY, PM Kisan, PM Awas, PM Ujjwala, and PM Internship, flagship government schemes reaching hundreds of millions of Indians. Every face scan on every one of those transactions runs an AI model on a server inside a data centre. The boundary between conventional digital infrastructure and AI infrastructure does not exist in India's public systems. AI is already built into them. Also read | OpenAI discussed giving US government a 5% stake: What it could mean for the future of AI The 100 million question In February 2026, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disclosed in an article published in the Times of India, ahead of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, that India has 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users, making it the platform's second-largest market globally after the United States, a position it has held for several months. India also has the largest student population using ChatGPT of any country on earth. Google's Gemini, meanwhile, is being offered free for 18 months to over 500 million Jio subscribers, with India ranking highest globally in Gemini usage for learning, according to Google. This is the dimension of the data centre debate that goes largely unacknowledged. The same people raising concerns about AI infrastructure expansion are, in enormous numbers, among the heaviest users of the AI products those facilities exist to power. Every ChatGPT query, every Gemini response, every AI-assisted search runs through a data centre drawing power from the grid and water from the city around it. The infrastructure being questioned outside city limits is being quietly used, at scale, every day, on the phones in people's pockets. This is not an argument against scrutiny. It is an argument for honesty about what, exactly, is being scrutinised. Not infrastructure, but sovereignty The case for domestic data centre capacity is not only an operational one. It is a sovereignty argument, and India has been building the legal architecture to support it for years. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, enacted on August 11, 2023, and operationalised through DPDP Rules notified by MeitY on November 13, 2025, creates a rights-based, consent-driven framework governing how companies collect, store, and process the personal data of Indian citizens. The Reserve Bank of India has separately mandated that all payment system data be stored exclusively on Indian soil. Both frameworks only carry force if the physical infrastructure to underpin them exists within Indian jurisdiction. According to JLL's India Data Centre Market Report for the first half of 2025, India generates approximately 20 percent of global data while hosting only around three percent of global data centre capacity. That gap is a strategic exposure that no legislation can close without the infrastructure to match it. DPDPA is of limited consequence if Indian citizen data resides on servers in Singapore or Frankfurt, beyond the reach of Indian courts and regulators. "When you are building a payments platform or a banking application in India, data localisation shapes architectural decisions from day one, where data is stored, how it moves between services, and how you handle latency-sensitive transactions in real time," Rama Krishna Sreepada, Co-Founder and Chief Architect at [x]Cube Labs, told WION. "The gap between the volume of data India generates and the infrastructure available to process it locally is where the real risk lives. When infrastructure is stretched, response times degrade, redundancy shrinks, and recovery windows get longer. For an end user, that is a failed transaction at a payment terminal or a banking app unavailable when it matters most." Also read | Beyond AI models: Anthropic is exploring a custom AI chip with Samsung. Here's why it matters Why the world is betting on India The scale of committed investment makes the direction of travel unmistakable. Microsoft has pledged $17.5 billion toward data centre infrastructure in India, announced in December 2025. Google committed $6 billion to a facility in Andhra Pradesh in July 2025. The Adani Group announced $100 billion in AI-ready capacity by 2035, in partnership with both companies. According to Colliers, India's live data centre capacity will triple from 1,263 MW in 2024 to 4,500 MW by 2030. Deloitte projects total investment in the sector reaching up to $200 billion by 2030. The four largest global hyperscalers collectively planned up to $725 billion in capital expenditure for 2026, with approximately 75 percent directed toward AI infrastructure, according to company earnings disclosures and IEEE Communications Society analysis. This capital is not arriving out of goodwill. It is arriving because India's billion-scale digital population, its accelerating AI adoption, its data localisation requirements, and its improving infrastructure make it one of the most strategically consequential data centre markets in the world for the next decade. "Rack power densities are increasing from around 15 kW to as much as 140 kW, while most new developments are being planned as Tier III and Tier IV facilities requiring greater power redundancy," said Gautam Saraf, Executive Managing Director, Mumbai and New Business at Cushman & Wakefield, which advises hyperscalers, operators, and investors on data centre strategy across India. "Speed to power is now a critical determinant of project viability, with grid connection timelines increasingly shaping investment decisions." Watch | AI job shock? California study tracks rising layoffs since ChatGPT launch https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-job-shock-california-study-tracks-rising-layoffs-since-chatgpt-launch-1783012300163/embed The answer So the question of whether India can stop building data centres is not really about data centres at all. It is a question about whether India can afford to switch off the AI system authenticating 130 crore Aadhaar face scans annually. Whether it can remove the fraud detection layer from hundreds of millions of daily UPI transactions. Whether it can tell 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, the largest student AI user base on the planet, that the infrastructure powering their tools will not be built here. None of those are realistic options. "Every banking app, every UPI transaction, every digital lending decision runs on physical infrastructure somewhere, and the stability of those services is directly tied to the health of that infrastructure," Sreepada told WION. "Closing the data centre capacity gap is the next critical step in making that progress genuinely resilient at scale” he added. India must build this infrastructure. The only question that remains, and it is the more consequential one, is on whose terms, at what cost to its water systems and power grid, and with what accountability framework in place. That is exactly where Part 2 of this series begins. The infrastructure is non-negotiable. What happens inside it, around it, and because of it, that is where the real debate begins.

Microsoft put in $17.5 billion, Google $6 billion, Adani $100 billion. The world has already decided India needs this infrastructure. The question India has not answered yet is whether it will build it on its own terms or someone else's.

The big data centre debate: Are they optional?

Meta Platforms is preparing its fourth reorganisation of artificial intelligence (AI) operations in just six months, according to a report by The Information. The company’s newly created Superintelligence Labs will be divided into four groups: a new “TBD Lab” (short for to be determined); a products team working on tools such as the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the long-term research-focused Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) unit.The restructuring comes amid fierce competition in Silicon Valley’s race to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), systems capable of surpassing human-level reasoning. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly emphasised that AGI will be central to the company’s future growth, even as rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google scale their own efforts.<h2>Talent wars and leadership shuffle</h2>Media reports said TBD Lab will take charge of developing the next generation of Meta’s flagship Llama model. Leadership roles are expected to be distributed among prominent AI researchers recruited from top rivals. Jack Rae, formerly of Google, may head pre-training work, while ex-Apple executive Ruoming Pang could oversee infrastructure. Jiahui Yu, who previously worked at OpenAI, is likely to lead multimedia initiatives, and Hongyu Ren and Pei Sun, from OpenAI and Google, respectively, are expected to lead post-training teams.At the executive level, Meta has brought in high-profile leaders such as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to guide the superintelligence unit. Robert Fergus, co-founder of FAIR, is expected to continue leading that lab, while Aparna Ramani, a long-time Meta engineering executive, may head infrastructure.<h2>Billions poured into AI bet</h2>Meta’s reshuffle follows a string of challenges, including senior departures and muted reception to the open-source release of Llama 4. At the same time, the company is committing unprecedented sums to infrastructure. In July, Zuckerberg pledged hundreds of billions of dollars to build massive AI data centres, backed by a $29 billion financing package led by PIMCO and Blue Owl Capital for a facility in Louisiana.Meta recently lifted its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to $66–72 billion, citing rising costs from data centres and soaring salaries for top researchers. Executives have cautioned that expenses in 2026 are expected to grow even faster. The latest restructuring underlines the urgency with which Meta is repositioning itself as an AI-first company. Whether the aggressive strategy will translate into breakthrough products and sustainable revenue, however, remains uncertain.&nbsp;(With inputs from agencies)

Meta’s reshuffle follows a string of challenges, including senior departures and muted reception to the open-source release of Llama 4. At the same time, the company is committing unprecedented sums to infrastructure. 

Meta Platforms is preparing its fourth reorganisation of artificial intelligence (AI) operations in just six months, according to a report by The Information. The company’s newly created Superintelligence Labs will be divided into four groups: a new “TBD Lab” (short for to be determined); a products team working on tools such as the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the long-term research-focused Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) unit. The restructuring comes amid fierce competition in Silicon Valley’s race to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), systems capable of surpassing human-level reasoning. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly emphasised that AGI will be central to the company’s future growth, even as rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google scale their own efforts. Talent wars and leadership shuffle Media reports said TBD Lab will take charge of developing the next generation of Meta’s flagship Llama model. Leadership roles are expected to be distributed among prominent AI researchers recruited from top rivals. Jack Rae, formerly of Google, may head pre-training work, while ex-Apple executive Ruoming Pang could oversee infrastructure. Jiahui Yu, who previously worked at OpenAI, is likely to lead multimedia initiatives, and Hongyu Ren and Pei Sun, from OpenAI and Google, respectively, are expected to lead post-training teams. At the executive level, Meta has brought in high-profile leaders such as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to guide the superintelligence unit. Robert Fergus, co-founder of FAIR, is expected to continue leading that lab, while Aparna Ramani, a long-time Meta engineering executive, may head infrastructure. Billions poured into AI bet Meta’s reshuffle follows a string of challenges, including senior departures and muted reception to the open-source release of Llama 4. At the same time, the company is committing unprecedented sums to infrastructure. In July, Zuckerberg pledged hundreds of billions of dollars to build massive AI data centres, backed by a $29 billion financing package led by PIMCO and Blue Owl Capital for a facility in Louisiana. Meta recently lifted its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to $66–72 billion, citing rising costs from data centres and soaring salaries for top researchers. Executives have cautioned that expenses in 2026 are expected to grow even faster. The latest restructuring underlines the urgency with which Meta is repositioning itself as an AI-first company. Whether the aggressive strategy will translate into breakthrough products and sustainable revenue, however, remains uncertain. (With inputs from agencies)

Meta’s reshuffle follows a string of challenges, including senior departures and muted reception to the open-source release of Llama 4. At the same time, the company is committing unprecedented sums to infrastructure.&nbsp;

Meta plans fourth AI restructure in six months

OpenAI, in partnership with British cloud infrastructure provider Nscale and Norwegian energy firm Aker ASA, announced plans to build its first AI data centre in Europe. The project, named Stargate Norway, will be located near the town of Narvik in northern Norway and is set to become one of the largest AI data centres on the continent, with an initial investment of $1 billion. Scheduled to begin operations in 2024, Stargate Norway aims to support the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The centre will initially install 100,000 Nvidia processors and offer 230 megawatts (MW) of capacity, with plans to expand to 290 MW by 2026.&nbsp;The facility is expected to be powered entirely by renewable energy sourced from the region’s abundant hydropower resources, aligning with OpenAI’s commitment to sustainable AI development. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasised the strategic importance of the project, stating in a video presentation, “Infrastructure like this unlocks immense potential for developers, researchers, scientists, and startups across Norway and Europe.”<h2>A boost for European AI sovereignty</h2>The launch of Stargate Norway comes as Europe is pushing for “sovereign AI,” ensuring that AI technologies and data processing remain within its borders. This move is seen as a response to growing concerns over data privacy and geopolitical risks, especially with AI systems processing sensitive business and government information. While not directly part of the European Union’s multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure plan, Stargate Norway will contribute to strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem.&nbsp;The project will be a joint venture, with Nscale and Aker each holding a 50 per cent stake. OpenAI will be a major customer, purchasing capacity from the data centre as it scales. The focus on European sovereignty is also reflected in the facility’s location, chosen for its cool climate, low electricity demand, and limited transmission capacity, key factors for maintaining an energy-efficient AI infrastructure.<h2>Renewable energy and cooling innovations</h2>Stargate Norway will be powered by renewable hydropower, further aligning with OpenAI’s sustainability goals. The centre will incorporate advanced cooling techniques, including closed-loop, direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems, to enhance efficiency and minimise energy consumption. Excess heat generated by the data centre will be used to support local low-carbon enterprises, helping to reduce its overall environmental footprint.The project will also benefit from Nvidia’s cutting-edge GB300 Superchip processors and NVLink network technology, which are essential for handling large AI workloads. As part of its long-term vision, OpenAI plans to expand the facility’s capacity significantly, making it a key player in Europe’s AI infrastructure landscape. The announcement of Stargate Norway follows OpenAI's recent efforts to expand its AI footprint globally, including similar partnerships in the UAE and the United States. With its focus on sustainable energy, advanced technology, and European AI sovereignty, Stargate Norway is set to become a critical component of the continent’s AI future.&nbsp;(With inputs from agencies)

The project, named Stargate Norway, will be located near the town of Narvik in northern Norway and is set to become one of the largest AI data centres on the continent, with an initial investment of $1 billion.

OpenAI, in partnership with British cloud infrastructure provider Nscale and Norwegian energy firm Aker ASA, announced plans to build its first AI data centre in Europe. The project, named Stargate Norway, will be located near the town of Narvik in northern Norway and is set to become one of the largest AI data centres on the continent, with an initial investment of $1 billion. Scheduled to begin operations in 2024, Stargate Norway aims to support the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The centre will initially install 100,000 Nvidia processors and offer 230 megawatts (MW) of capacity, with plans to expand to 290 MW by 2026. The facility is expected to be powered entirely by renewable energy sourced from the region’s abundant hydropower resources, aligning with OpenAI’s commitment to sustainable AI development. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasised the strategic importance of the project, stating in a video presentation, “Infrastructure like this unlocks immense potential for developers, researchers, scientists, and startups across Norway and Europe.” A boost for European AI sovereignty The launch of Stargate Norway comes as Europe is pushing for “sovereign AI,” ensuring that AI technologies and data processing remain within its borders. This move is seen as a response to growing concerns over data privacy and geopolitical risks, especially with AI systems processing sensitive business and government information. While not directly part of the European Union’s multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure plan, Stargate Norway will contribute to strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem. The project will be a joint venture, with Nscale and Aker each holding a 50 per cent stake. OpenAI will be a major customer, purchasing capacity from the data centre as it scales. The focus on European sovereignty is also reflected in the facility’s location, chosen for its cool climate, low electricity demand, and limited transmission capacity, key factors for maintaining an energy-efficient AI infrastructure. Renewable energy and cooling innovations Stargate Norway will be powered by renewable hydropower, further aligning with OpenAI’s sustainability goals. The centre will incorporate advanced cooling techniques, including closed-loop, direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems, to enhance efficiency and minimise energy consumption. Excess heat generated by the data centre will be used to support local low-carbon enterprises, helping to reduce its overall environmental footprint. The project will also benefit from Nvidia’s cutting-edge GB300 Superchip processors and NVLink network technology, which are essential for handling large AI workloads. As part of its long-term vision, OpenAI plans to expand the facility’s capacity significantly, making it a key player in Europe’s AI infrastructure landscape. The announcement of Stargate Norway follows OpenAI's recent efforts to expand its AI footprint globally, including similar partnerships in the UAE and the United States. With its focus on sustainable energy, advanced technology, and European AI sovereignty, Stargate Norway is set to become a critical component of the continent’s AI future. (With inputs from agencies)

The project, named Stargate Norway, will be located near the town of Narvik in northern Norway and is set to become one of the largest AI data centres on the continent, with an initial investment of $1 billion.

OpenAI to launch first European AI data centre in Norway

Malaysia is rapidly emerging as a leading data centre hub in Southeast Asia, driven by booming demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The country has attracted billions in data centre investments from tech giants like Google, NVIDIA, and Microsoft.

Malaysia challenges Singapore’s data center lead

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is in talks with the Italian government about considerably expanding its data centre operations in the country, according to four people familiar with the situation. This move is part of AWS's broader goal to expand its cloud computing capabilities all over Europe.<o:p></o:p>

The conversations are ongoing, and the specifics of the investment's magnitude and potential sites have yet to be determined. According to one insider, AWS is considering either expanding its current facility in Milan or building a new site entirely. Both AWS and a representative from Italy's cabinet office's digital transition section declined to comment. The Italian Industry Ministry was not immediately available for comment.<o:p></o:p>

AWS launched its first cloud region in Italy in 2020, with plans to invest €2 billion ($2.175 billion) by 2029. Its Italian clients include well-known firms like luxury manufacturer Ferrari and insurer Assicurazioni Generali.<o:p></o:p>

This potential investment in Italy follows AWS's recent announcement of a €15.7 billion ($17.08 billion) data centre investment in Spain's Aragon region, which represents a significant increase from the €2.5 billion ($2.72 billion) plan announced in 2021. Despite the considerable volume of the Spanish investment, one source claimed that AWS's commitment in Italy might not be as large.<o:p></o:p>

AWS has committed to investing €7.8 billion ($8.49 billion) in Germany by 2040. Furthermore, AWS is constructing infrastructure to serve telecom services, which require significant resources. Earlier this month, it signed its first telecom client, Telefonica Deutschland, with intentions to shift one million users to the AWS cloud.<o:p></o:p>

Last year, AWS announced plans to house data on servers in the European Union to protect the privacy of governmental and regulated business clients. This initiative is part of a larger trend among major firms to recommence cloud computing spending, fuelled by a growing interest in artificial intelligence, which is reviving development in the $270 billion global cloud infrastructure market.<o:p></o:p>

Competitors including Alphabet and Microsoft are also increasing their cloud footprints in Italy. Alphabet invested €1 billion ($1.09 billion) to construct cloud regions for Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, while Microsoft announced the establishment of its first cloud region in Italy as part of a $1.5 billion investment plan revealed in 2020.<o:p></o:p>

As AWS continues to negotiate with Italy, the IT behemoth's actions reflect a deliberate push to strengthen its cloud service offerings across Europe, catering to rising demand driven by technical breakthroughs and the changing needs of enterprise customers.<o:p></o:p>

(With inputs from Reuters)<o:p></o:p>

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is in talks with the Italian government about considerably expanding its data centre operations in the country, according to four people familiar with the situation.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is in talks with the Italian government about considerably expanding its data centre operations in the country, according to four people familiar with the situation. This move is part of AWS's broader goal to expand its cloud computing capabilities all over Europe. The conversations are ongoing, and the specifics of the investment's magnitude and potential sites have yet to be determined. According to one insider, AWS is considering either expanding its current facility in Milan or building a new site entirely. Both AWS and a representative from Italy's cabinet office's digital transition section declined to comment. The Italian Industry Ministry was not immediately available for comment. AWS launched its first cloud region in Italy in 2020, with plans to invest €2 billion ($2.175 billion) by 2029. Its Italian clients include well-known firms like luxury manufacturer Ferrari and insurer Assicurazioni Generali. This potential investment in Italy follows AWS's recent announcement of a €15.7 billion ($17.08 billion) data centre investment in Spain's Aragon region, which represents a significant increase from the €2.5 billion ($2.72 billion) plan announced in 2021. Despite the considerable volume of the Spanish investment, one source claimed that AWS's commitment in Italy might not be as large. AWS has committed to investing €7.8 billion ($8.49 billion) in Germany by 2040. Furthermore, AWS is constructing infrastructure to serve telecom services, which require significant resources. Earlier this month, it signed its first telecom client, Telefonica Deutschland, with intentions to shift one million users to the AWS cloud. Last year, AWS announced plans to house data on servers in the European Union to protect the privacy of governmental and regulated business clients. This initiative is part of a larger trend among major firms to recommence cloud computing spending, fuelled by a growing interest in artificial intelligence, which is reviving development in the $270 billion global cloud infrastructure market. Competitors including Alphabet and Microsoft are also increasing their cloud footprints in Italy. Alphabet invested €1 billion ($1.09 billion) to construct cloud regions for Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, while Microsoft announced the establishment of its first cloud region in Italy as part of a $1.5 billion investment plan revealed in 2020. As AWS continues to negotiate with Italy, the IT behemoth's actions reflect a deliberate push to strengthen its cloud service offerings across Europe, catering to rising demand driven by technical breakthroughs and the changing needs of enterprise customers. (With inputs from Reuters)

Amazon in talks with Italy for major AWS data centre expansion

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