Groq, a Silicon Valley startup specializing in AI semiconductors and backed by investment arms of industry majors Samsung and Cisco, announced on Monday the opening of its first European data center as it ramps up global growth.
The facility, located in Helsinki, Finland, is being developed in partnership with leading infrastructure provider Equinix.
The new Helsinki data center positions Groq to tap into the flourishing demand for AI capabilities across Europe—a trend that has already prompted several US technology giants to boost their regional commitments.
The Nordic region, with its abundant renewable energy sources and naturally cool climate, has become a magnet for data infrastructure investments.
Nvidia, the sector’s dominant player, also recently signed multiple data center deals in Europe.
Groq, valued at $2.8 billion, is challenging Nvidia’s dominance in AI semiconductors by focusing on “inferencing”—the process of running live data through pre-trained AI models, crucial for applications like conversational chatbots.
While Nvidia currently leads the market for training massive, complex AI models with its GPUs, Groq and other startups such as SambaNova, Ampere (soon to be acquired by SoftBank), Cerebras, and Fractile are vying for market share in the high-volume, lower-margin business of inference.
CEO Jonathan Ross told CNBC that Groq’s proprietary chip, the language processing unit (LPU), avoids supply chain pitfalls by using components largely sourced within North America. Unlike Nvidia’s inference solutions, which rely on pricey high-bandwidth memory from a small pool of suppliers, Groq’s LPUs are intentionally engineered to be resilient against global supply shocks.
Ross also added that Groq’s approach allows it to capture business that may be less attractive to companies focused on high-margin AI training.
Ross noted Groq made the strategic decision to set up in Helsinki only four weeks ago and is on track to begin serving customer traffic by the end of this week—demonstrating a speed of execution uncommon in the industry.
The launch reinforces Europe’s push for “sovereign AI”, the policy initiative emphasizing local data center investments to enhance data security, regulatory compliance, and service latency.
Equinix’s regional data hub also offers Groq an entry point to supply local enterprises with on-demand inference capabilities, integrating with popular platforms like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.
Groq’s expansion in Helsinki adds to its existing network of AI data centers in the United States, Canada, and Saudi Arabia.
