Finland: Google announces €13 billion AI, energy investment

Finland: Google announces €13 billion AI, energy investment September 10, 2026US tech company Google on Wednesday announced that it would be investing €13 billion ($15.1 billion) in AI infrastructure in Finland as well as penning a massive deal to buy nuclear power in the Nordic country over the next two decades. This year, Google parent company Alphabet increased global investment to around $200 billion as it rushes to catch up in the AI race. Wednesday's announced deal is Google's biggest single investment in the EU to date. Since repurposing a former paper mill in the coastal city of Hamina in 2009 and transforming it into a data center, Google has steadily increased its presence in the country. The northern location offers two advantages, cold Arctic temperatures mean it needs less energy to cool energy hungry servers and the fact that Finland only has 6 million residents would seem to provide relief from the growing resistance that such projects are running up against in the US and elsewhere. Google is not alone in looking to chilly Finland with its cheap nuclear, wind and hydroelectric energy supply to expand its business — Microsoft and TikTok parent ByteDance have also set up shop — with dozens of data centers being built in the country over the past few years. Attracting data center investment has been a priority for Finland's right-wing Prime Minister Petteri Orpo as the nation confronts record unemployment and slow economic growth. Google makes big claims about boosting Finnish GDP and creating jobs In a statement, Google said the investment, scheduled to be doled out in 2027 and 2028, will include data centers, electrical grid improvement, and clean energy and battery projects for its chatbot, search and map services. The company claims the investment will pump some €3.6 billion into Finland's GDP and create 37,000 jobs, with 7,000 being permanent and others coming during the construction phase. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo echoed Google's rosy outlook for his country's economy, emphasizing that it would spur further investment while downplaying fears that Google's project could drive up energy prices and gobble up resources."This investment is historical in Finland," said Orpo. "This makes us a front-runner in digitalization and AI." Orpo said Google is, "committed to ensuring that electricity production in Finland remains sufficient and that prices remain under control." The tax-avoiding US company said the deal was, "a testament to Finland's leadership in responsibly building AI infrastructure." "Now we are building more in Hamina, expanding that site on a remarkable level, and we are opening up data center operations in three new locations in the municipalities of Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala," said Antti Jarvinen, the company's director of operations for Finland. Beyond skyrocketing energy consumption, Finland's data center boom presents a potential security risk Wednesday's deal also includes a purchase agreement for 50% of energy output from one of Finland's two nuclear power plants for the next 22 years according to plant operator Fortum, which will team up with the tech giant to explore new nuclear and renewable projects in the country. Fortum shares jumped 15.5% on news of the deal, pushing them to their highest level in over four years and making the company the biggest winner on European stock exchanges for the day. "We call this BYOP — bring your own power," said Google President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat, who noted, "This is Google's first nuclear energy deal outside of the United States." Fortum said the deal would allow it to "continue operating the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant until the end of its operating licenses in 2050," adding that without it, the plant, which currently supplies about 10% of Finland's electricity, would not have been able to continue operations past 2030. Overall, Finland's data center boom is expected to create a massive spike in energy consumption, with network operator Fingrid forecasting a 40% jump over the coming years. Beyond the environmental and energy concerns raised by such deals, Finland's Security and Intelligence Service (SUPO) has also issued explicit warnings that foreign-owned data centers pose potential security risks for the Nordic nation. SUPO is concerned that municipalities may be weighing the economic potential of data centers more heavily than the security risk associated with them, noting that despite data center investments being fundamentally good for Finland there may be concerns if their owners are linked to authoritarian countries like Russia or China. SUPO says authoritarian states may, for instance, try to use Finland to circumvent restrictions and sanctions on technology exports. For example, for advanced chips currently banned from export to China. If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google, so you'll always see our verified news first. Edited by: Sean Sinico