Overview
- Reports Wednesday confirmed OpenAI gave up its planned capacity at the Narvik Stargate campus, and Microsoft moved to take the slot with an expanded order for more than 30,000 Nvidia Rubin GPUs.
- Microsoft said the Narvik agreement with UK operator Nscale runs five years starting in 2026 and draws only on renewable power to meet rising AI demand in Europe.
- OpenAI said it is negotiating to rent compute from Microsoft instead of contracting at Narvik directly because using Azure fits its existing commitments and makes more financial sense.
- Stargate Norway was designed as a 230‑megawatt site targeting about 100,000 Nvidia GPUs in total, with the Arctic location offering renewable energy and naturally efficient cooling.
- The move extends OpenAI’s pullback from prior Stargate plans in Texas and the UK and follows its cut to a roughly $600 billion compute spend outlook through 2030, while Microsoft shares rose about 4% after securing the capacity.