By Kai Nicol-Schwarz
Publication Date: 2026-04-15 12:29:00
OpenAI has abandoned plans to rent compute capacity directly from a Norwegian data center, days after confirming it paused a similar project in the U.K.
Microsoft is taking the extra compute previously earmarked for OpenAI at a planned 230MW “Stargate Norway” facility in Narvik. OpenAI is now in discussions to rent capacity from Microsoft instead, a spokesperson for the company told CNBC.
The AI company said in 2025 it had the opportunity to be an “initial offtaker” at the data center, which OpenAI positioned under the umbrella of its “Stargate” infrastructure project and was being built by UK AI cloud startup Nscale.
OpenAI was in discussions to rent around half of the facility’s capacity, a source with firsthand knowledge of the matter told CNBC.
The source said that Nscale and OpenAI ultimately did not agree on an offtake deal, with Microsoft stepping in to take up the capacity. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that OpenAI didn’t conclude its offtake talks at the data center with…
