Sweden is committing 32 megawatts of renewable power to support sovereign artificial intelligence computing, while HIVE Digital has acquired the Big Boden data center in northern Sweden. The move could help Europe cut its dependence on US tech giants for AI infrastructure.
Why the data center matters
HIVE Digital, a cryptocurrency and AI computing firm, bought the Big Boden facility outright. The site is positioned to host high-performance computing workloads needed for training and running large AI models. By securing its own data center, HIVE Digital gains direct control over energy supply and cooling — two major cost drivers in the industry.
The company plans to upgrade the facility. It hasn't said how much it will spend or when the work will finish.
The 32 MW commitment
Sweden's pledge covers renewable electricity — mostly hydro and wind — that will feed the Big Boden site. That amount of power is enough to run roughly 10,000 modern homes or a medium-sized supercomputer cluster. The government framed the commitment as a strategic bet on homegrown AI capacity rather than outsourcing compute to US cloud providers.
Sweden has long offered cheap, clean energy to data center operators. The country's northern regions, where Big Boden sits, have cool climates that reduce cooling costs. Those advantages have already attracted companies like Facebook and Spotify to build server farms in the region.
Europe's push for AI autonomy
The acquisition and the renewable power deal come as European policymakers worry about relying on American companies for the hardware and energy that underpin AI. The EU has talked about building a "European cloud" and funding domestic AI chips, but concrete projects have been slow to materialize.
Big Boden could become a test case for a smaller-scale, sovereign approach — one where a single company controls the compute stack from power plant to processor. Whether it can compete with the scale of US hyperscalers remains an open question.
HIVE Digital has not set a date for when the data center upgrade will be complete or when the 32 MW of renewable power will be fully online. The company will need to negotiate grid connection agreements and possibly local permits before construction can begin.
