Groq said the Helsinki facility will support real-time inference use cases, including applications in natural language processing
In sum – what to know:
Groq lands in Europe – Groq opens its first European data center in Finland, bringing ultra-low-latency AI inference to customers across the continent with sovereign, private infrastructure via Equinix Fabric.
Sustainability meets speed – Helsinki’s sustainable energy and advanced data infrastructure make it an ideal location for high-efficiency, low-cost inference workloads — supporting AI-native companies and enterprise users.
Global scale, local control – The deployment supports 20M tokens per second across the U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia and now Europe, giving enterprises global reach with regional data governance.
Groq has expanded its data center operations to Europe with the opening of a facility in Helsinki, Finland.
In a release, the company said that the new data center, developed in collaboration with Equinix, aims to serve growing demand for AI inference capacity across the region by bringing computing resources closer to European customers.
The U.S. firm specializes in delivering infrastructure for AI inference — the process of running trained AI models — using its proprietary Language Processing Unit (LPU) hardware. The new data center in Helsinki is intended to reduce latency for users in Europe while supporting secure and localized data handling.
Jonathan Ross, CEO and founder of Groq, said: “As demand for AI inference continues at an ever-increasing pace, we know that those building fast need more – more capacity, more efficiency and with a cost that scales. With our new European data center, customers get the lowest latency possible and infrastructure ready today. We’re unlocking developer ambition now, not months from now.”
The Helsinki data center adds to Groq’s existing deployments in the United States, Canada and Saudi Arabia. According to the company, its infrastructure currently delivers over 20 million tokens per second across this network.
The new development in Finland also expands Groq’s collaboration with Equinix, which hosts the data center. Customers using Equinix Fabric — a platform for interconnection services — will be able to access Groq’s services through private, public or sovereign configurations. This setup is intended to allow for flexible infrastructure models based on enterprise and regulatory requirements, according to Groq.
Regina Donato Dahlström, managing director for the Nordics at Equinix, said: “There is no doubt AI is front of mind for businesses across Europe; and the Nordics is a great place to host AI infrastructure. With its sustainable energy policies, free cooling and reliable power grid, Finland is a standout choice for hosting this new capacity. Combining Groq’s cutting-edge technology with Equinix’s global infrastructure and vendor-neutral connectivity solutions enables efficient AI inference at scale. Our customers at Equinix will be able to securely tap into GroqCloud and lead on innovation within their enterprise.”
Groq noted that the Helsinki facility will support real-time inference use cases, including applications in natural language processing. Groq has positioned its LPU-based system as a lower-cost, high-speed alternative to traditional GPU-based infrastructure.
Thanks to clean and reliable energy, a cool climate and well-developed power grids, global tech companies are choosing the Nordics as a base for data centers that support AI.
AI models require massive computing power, and that means they also need large amounts of energy. That’s where the Nordic countries come in. The region already has a strong track record of producing renewable energy through hydropower, wind and other sources. It also has political stability, modern infrastructure and space to grow.
Groq has approached investors with the aim of raising between $300 million and $500 million, according to The Information, which cited people familiar with the matter, as reported by Reuters.
The report stated that the firm is seeking the capital to fulfill a recently inked deal with Saudi Arabia. In February, Groq secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand the delivery of its advanced AI chips to the country.
Groq has previously told investors that the contracts in Saudi Arabia will help the company bring in about $500 million in revenue in 2025, the report added.
