OpenAI pulls Stargate site
OpenAI pulled out of a second Stargate data‑center deal amid a broader infrastructure retrenchment, according to reporting on recent deal changes. (computerworld.com) Microsoft has taken over one Norway site formerly earmarked for OpenAI and is reported to be deploying roughly 30,000 Nvidia Vera Rubin chips there. (techrepublic.com)
OpenAI has backed away from a second Stargate data-center deal in Europe, and Microsoft is taking the Norway capacity instead. (computerworld.com) The site is a planned 230-megawatt campus in Kvandal, outside Narvik in northern Norway, developed by Nscale and Aker. Microsoft said on April 14 it would add more than 30,000 Nvidia Vera Rubin graphics processors there, with delivery scheduled for 2027. (datacenterdynamics.com) OpenAI had been in talks to rent roughly half the Norway facility’s capacity directly from Nscale, but the companies did not reach an offtake agreement. OpenAI told CNBC it is now discussing renting that compute through Microsoft instead. (cnbc.com) This is OpenAI’s second Stargate retreat in one week. The company said last week it paused a United Kingdom Stargate project, citing high energy costs and the country’s regulatory environment. (cnbc.com) Stargate is OpenAI’s giant infrastructure push with SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX. When OpenAI announced it on January 21, 2025, it said the venture intended to invest $500 billion over four years to build artificial-intelligence infrastructure in the United States, starting in Texas. (openai.com) That original pitch centered on owning or locking in vast amounts of computing power, the warehouses full of chips used to train and run artificial-intelligence models. The Norway shift shows OpenAI leaning more on Microsoft’s cloud contracts instead of signing another direct long-term capacity deal itself. (openai.com; cnbc.com) Microsoft already had a large commitment at the Narvik site before this week’s expansion. Nscale said the new Norway agreement builds on a previous $6.2 billion commitment Microsoft made there in September 2025. (techrepublic.com; datacenterdynamics.com) OpenAI has not said it is abandoning Norway altogether. Its spokesperson told CNBC, “We are moving ahead with our plans in Norway,” while adding that using Microsoft as the intermediary fit better within spending the company already has under contract. (cnbc.com) The pullback lands as OpenAI is still publicly committed to a huge Stargate buildout but is getting more selective about where it signs new deals. For now, the Norway chips are still coming — just under Microsoft’s name, not OpenAI’s. (computerworld.com; techrepublic.com)
