Why Won't Europe Build AI Data Centers in Iceland?
June 3, Brussels unveiled its grand plan to triple the continent’s data centers and wean itself off American clouds. Yet, roughly 1,800 miles north, an island runs its servers on volcanoes and waterfalls, cools them for free, and hosts 80-150 megawatts of Europe’s AI. Perhaps Europe has less of a power problem, and more of a nerve one.
The Tech Sovereignty Package has been years in the making. The plan works to beef up the Chips Act 2.0 , deploy a brand-new Cloud and AI Development Act , name an open-source strategy and (finally) provide Europe’s first ever legal definition of “digital sovereignty.” As Europe continues to lean on non-European suppliers ( Amazon , Microsoft and Google run roughly 70% of its cloud), Brussels’ mission now is to decrease this dependency.
. @EU_Commission has adopted EU Tech Sovereignty Package to strengthen Europe’s digital resilience, competitiveness & innovation. The package includes: 👉Chips Act 2.0 👉Cloud & AI Act 👉EU Open Source Strategy 👉Digitalisation & AI in Energy Roadmap https://t.co/aR4bc6b4uG pic.twitter.com/LiZiA4Wzv0
So Brussels is reaching for the levers. The revised Chips Act would let the Commission override chipmakers’ supply contracts in a shortage and fine firms up to €300,000 for withholding data. The cloud law would bar US platforms from holding sensitive government information, the kind of move the Netherlands already made when it blocked an American takeover of the company behind its national login system.
It’s bold, and it’s overdue. However, this all rests on one unglamorous thing nobody wants to talk about: electricity, and somewhere to put the servers.
The Cloud and AI Development Act sets a genuinely enormous target. Triple the EU’s data centre capacity within five to seven years with a focus on AI gigafactories and hyperscale sites . This idea sounds fantastic – right up until you ask where the power and the planning permission are coming from.