Brookfield to Invest $10 Billion Building AI Hub in Sweden
(Bloomberg) -- Brookfield Asset Management plans to invest up to 95 billion kronor ($9.9 billion) developing artificial intelligence infrastructure in Sweden that will take 10 to 15 years to construct.
The New York-based asset manager plans to purchase additional land at a site in Strangnas — some 55 miles west of Stockholm — that will eventually house a 750-megawatt data center, more than doubling its previous plan, according to a statement on Wednesday. The so-called AI factory will be the first of its kind in the Nordic nation, Brookfield said.
'Building AI hubs in Europe will ensure the continent can compete on a global scale, supporting continued innovation and providing necessary compute to both businesses and individuals,' Brookfield's head of Europe, Sikander Rashid, said in emailed comments.
Securing enough power will be a crucial goal for the project in a country already facing a swathe of electrification needs and capacity challenges in its electricity grid.
'We are making progress with the regional grid owner and the national grid operator, which is normal for these types of larger scale projects,' Rashid told Bloomberg.
The investment decision comes after Brookfield announced in February a €20 billion ($23 billion) plan to develop AI centers in France — a move hailed by French President Emmanuel Macron at the time.
In Sweden, the race to build out AI infrastructure recently won the backing Nvidia Corp. and a group of companies controlled by the country's influential Wallenberg family. Together, they are planning to develop a supercomputer and AI technology center that will in turn benefit the businesses involved in the venture, such as defense company Saab AB.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in emailed comments that the project by Brookfield marked one of the largest investments in AI infrastructure in Sweden, reflecting also the government's AI strategy.
'I find it particularly fun that it is in my hometown,' Kristersson added.
--With assistance from Jonas Ekblom.
(Adds comments from Sweden's prime minister in final two paragraphs.)
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