Norway’s Hydropower Fuels GPU AI Cloud

Nscale, a vertically integrated GPU cloud spun out from Arkon Energy, has recently launched a sustainable high-performance GPU cloud in Norway. This innovative cloud service provider is utilizing AMD chips and hydroelectric power to power its operations. The N1 Glomfjord data centre, located in Norway, is among the first in the world to focus on AMD technology for cloud services.

The strategic location of the data centre in northern Norway is significant due to the low cost of renewable energy in the region. This cost-efficiency makes it an ideal site for hosting LLM (Large Language Models) and AI training hubs. Nscale's initiative to leverage renewable energy sources aligns with the global push towards sustainability in technology infrastructure.

Nscale's ownership and operation of the full AI stack, from modular data centres to high-performance compute clusters, set it apart in the industry. This vertical integration allows Nscale to optimize each layer of the stack for both performance and cost efficiency. By harnessing the enhanced memory bandwidth and capacity of AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators and the ROCm open ecosystem, Nscale can cater to a wide range of AI, deep learning, and big data analytics workloads.

Josh Payne, Co-Founder and CEO of Nscale, emphasized the importance of AI infrastructure in the evolving technological landscape. He stated, “Over the coming years, AI will proliferate into every enterprise, product, and service, driving unprecedented demand for AI infrastructure. By combining cutting-edge technology from AMD with Norway's abundant, low-cost energy, we are offering a next-gen AI Cloud platform that is not only powerful but also sustainable and cost-effective.”

Andrew Dieckmann, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Instinct Business, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration with Nscale. He highlighted the transformative power of AI and the potential of the AMD Instinct MI300X accelerator in delivering high-performance Generative AI inferencing. Through Nscale's AI Cloud Services platform, the MI300X aims to provide competitive performance while offering a compelling total cost of ownership advantage over other market alternatives.