Microsoft takes over OpenAI's territory, Gate Project slowly morphs

A quiet struggle over computing power resources is reshaping the AI infrastructure landscape.
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft has struck a deal with Norwegian cloud provider Nscale to lease 30,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin chips located at the Narvik campus inside the Arctic Circle. This campus was originally intended for OpenAI and was once prominently promoted as a key part of the "Norwegian Star Gate" project—an initiative aligned with OpenAI's plan to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States. In the end, the land remained the same, but the tenant changed.
OpenAI confirmed that it did discuss the campus with Nscale but ultimately failed to reach an agreement. Meanwhile, OpenAI also announced last week that it had paused its similar Star Gate project in the UK due to high energy costs and strict regulations. The computing power freed up by this UK project was quickly taken over by Google—Alphabet will rent data center resources from Nscale in western London, which are equipped with NVIDIA Grace Blackwell chips.
While OpenAI pulls back, Microsoft and Google are quickly stepping in to fill the void—a situation that invites reflection.
More importantly, OpenAI is quietly scaling back its digital ambitions. In February, OpenAI disclosed to investors that its infrastructure investment would be roughly $60 billion by 2030—a figure significantly lower than the previously announced long-term commitment of $140 billion. After making a grand announcement, facing continuously rising server construction costs, this AI giant appears to be slowing down.
Microsoft, however, is heading in the opposite direction—accelerating its expansion. In addition to the new deal in Norway, Microsoft also took over a Texas project originally developed for OpenAI and Oracle last month, and this week it announced it will purchase 3,200 acres of land in Wyoming to expand its data centers. Wall Street predicts Microsoft's capital expenditure this year will reach $143 billion, primarily for data center construction.
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A quiet struggle over computing power resources is reshaping the AI infrastructure landscape.
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft has struck a deal with Norwegian cloud provider Nscale to lease 30,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin chips located at the Narvik campus inside the Arctic Circle. This campus was originally intended for OpenAI and was once prominently promoted as a key part of the "Norwegian Star Gate" project—an initiative aligned with OpenAI's plan to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States. In the end, the land remained the same, but the tenant changed.
OpenAI confirmed that it did discuss the campus with Nscale but ultimately failed to reach an agreement. Meanwhile, OpenAI also announced last week that it had paused its similar Star Gate project in the UK due to high energy costs and strict regulations. The computing power freed up by this UK project was quickly taken over by Google—Alphabet will rent data center resources from Nscale in western London, which are equipped with NVIDIA Grace Blackwell chips.
While OpenAI pulls back, Microsoft and Google are quickly stepping in to fill the void—a situation that invites reflection.
More importantly, OpenAI is quietly scaling back its digital ambitions. In February, OpenAI disclosed to investors that its infrastructure investment would be roughly $60 billion by 2030—a figure significantly lower than the previously announced long-term commitment of $140 billion. After making a grand announcement, facing continuously rising server construction costs, this AI giant appears to be slowing down.
Microsoft, however, is heading in the opposite direction—accelerating its expansion. In addition to the new deal in Norway, Microsoft also took over a Texas project originally developed for OpenAI and Oracle last month, and this week it announced it will purchase 3,200 acres of land in Wyoming to expand its data centers. Wall Street predicts Microsoft's capital expenditure this year will reach $143 billion, primarily for data center construction.
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