Nvidia acts as matchmaker for Nordic data center capacity
Nvidia is working to connect companies that use its graphics processing units with data center operators in the Nordics that have capacity to deploy them, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CNBC. The chipmaker has offered to introduce companies with data centers in the region—an increasingly sought-after AI infrastructure market—to firms with its GPUs that are in the market for capacity, the sources said, asking to remain anonymous when discussing private information.
The accounts add context to remarks by Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who said in June that Nvidia had "certainly engaged" in "matchmaking" with companies. "How can we help them obtain land, power, shell?" she asked. "How do we help them in terms of standing up the compute as fast as possible for what they need to do?"
One source said Nvidia had reached out to a data center company to sound out potential offtakers—customers that commit to buying or leasing computing capacity. The chipmaker often did not name the companies on whose behalf it was reaching out, the source added. Another source said Nvidia had also made introductions between a company building AI infrastructure and those with GPUs in the U.S. and Asia.
The Nordics as an AI infrastructure hub
Gigawatts of data center capacity are due to be built in the Nordics in the coming years, driven by access to power and abundant land. Neoclouds and hyperscalers including Nebius and Microsoft have inked deals in the region in 2026, CNBC reported.
The scale of planned development is substantial. Pure DC said in July it would invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.74 billion) to build a 110 MW campus in Finland, with potential to scale beyond 550 MW. Arcem has plans for a site with up to 500 MW of capacity. In March, Nebius unveiled plans to build one of Europe's largest AI factories in Finland, and in April Microsoft announced it would take up extra computing capacity at an Nscale site in Norway.
According to Statnett, the Norwegian grid operator, there is currently 2.3 GW of data center capacity queuing for future connections to the power grid. A report from Savills ranks Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki among the top six locations worldwide for future data center development potential. Rupert Duckworth of Savills said the Nordics offer "one of the clearest delivery propositions globally."
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
Nvidia's infrastructure investments
The matchmaking effort comes as Nvidia invests in companies that secure land and electricity for data centers. On Friday, Nvidia took a minority stake in Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a company that secures land and power for data centers, as reported by The Next Web. It is the third company of that kind Nvidia has bought into in quick succession, according to The Information. Neither company disclosed terms; The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia was expected to invest several hundred million dollars.
Cloverleaf was founded in 2024 and raised $300 million that year from NGP and Sandbrook Capital. The company sits between utilities and data center developers, arranging power and sites that builders then lease to cloud providers and model developers who buy Nvidia hardware.
The week before, Nvidia announced an investment in SB Energy, and on 17 August it said it had secured land, power, and shell capacity at SB Energy's PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio, which will exclusively host Nvidia AI compute. The third investment is in Lancium, the power developer behind OpenAI's Stargate facility in Abilene, Texas. The Information reported that OpenAI explored investing in or acquiring Lancium last quarter, but Nvidia invested billions in the firm instead.
Why data center capacity constrains chip sales
Nvidia can sell only as many chips as there are data centers able to house them, a constraint that has tightened with each generation. Until 2024 most Nvidia systems ran on air, but Blackwell's NVL72 racks required liquid cooling that not every facility could supply. With Rubin, Nvidia offers the chips in liquid-cooled form only for the first time, according to The Next Web, citing The Register.
Liquid-cooled racks run denser, heavier, and hotter. They need larger backup supplies, heavier power distribution units, and coolant distribution units at roughly one per one to three megawatts of compute. Racks move from about 250kW to 600kW starting next year, according to The Register.
Nvidia introduced its DSX platform, and Cloverleaf is adopting it. DSX Flex allows data centers to scale back workloads in response to grid conditions, a feature that can help manage power constraints.
Outlook
The investments and matchmaking efforts come as Nvidia reports earnings on Wednesday, with analysts estimating revenue nearly doubled to $92 billion, according to The Next Web. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kunjan Sobhani put Nvidia's supply commitments above $100 billion, and Nvidia announced a $500 billion financing plan for AI infrastructure this month. Nvidia's biggest customers have been told servers will rise in price by more than 15%, per The Next Web.
Nvidia has also taken positions in OpenAI, CoreWeave, and Nebius, and is in talks to invest in Perplexity at a valuation above $30 billion, according to The Next Web. The company's moves into infrastructure reflect the growing importance of not just producing chips but ensuring there are places to put them.