Microsoft takes Norway campus

Microsoft has taken over a planned artificial intelligence data-center buildout in northern Norway that OpenAI had branded as “Stargate Norway,” after OpenAI failed to close a capacity deal with Nscale. (datacenterdynamics.com) Nscale said on April 14 that Microsoft expanded its Norway agreement to add more than 30,000 Nvidia Rubin graphics processing units at its Narvik campus, with delivery scheduled for 2027. The chips will sit in a 230-megawatt facility in Kvandal, outside Narvik, inside the Arctic Circle. (nscale.com) That new allocation sits on top of a $6.2 billion Microsoft agreement announced in September 2025 for five years of artificial intelligence computing capacity from Nscale and Aker in Norway. That earlier contract was tied to the same Kvandal site and was due to start in 2026. (datacenterdynamics.com) OpenAI had introduced the project on July 31, 2025 as its first European data-center initiative under its OpenAI for Countries program. At the time, OpenAI, Nscale and Aker said the site would target 100,000 Nvidia graphics processing units by the end of 2026 and could expand beyond its initial 230 megawatts. (openai.com) Aker and Nscale had also said in 2025 that the campus could add another 290 megawatts, use local hydropower and make waste heat available for district heating. The two companies committed about $1 billion to the initial phase, including more than $250 million in equity. (datacenterdynamics.com) The handoff adds to a shift in how artificial intelligence infrastructure is being financed and reserved in Europe. Instead of waiting for one model developer to fill a site, cloud providers and “neocloud” operators are locking up power, buildings and chips directly, then assigning that capacity to whichever customer signs. (datacenterdynamics.com (datacenterdynamics.com)) OpenAI has not fully walked away from Norway. Bloomberg reported that an OpenAI spokesperson said the company is still exploring an agreement for capacity there even after failing to conclude the Nscale deal that would have put the Narvik campus under its control. (cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com) The Norway change also came days after OpenAI paused its main Stargate project in Britain, citing high energy costs and regulation. Nscale, meanwhile, has kept signing customers, including Microsoft in Norway and other buyers at separate European sites. (cnbc.com) (datacenterdynamics.com) For Microsoft, the result is simple: a site once presented as OpenAI’s European foothold is now being built out for Microsoft workloads, with Narvik’s hydropower and cold climate still central to the pitch. (openai.com) (nscale.com)