Finland halts Google’s AI data centre work after 330 hectares of forest fell

Finland’s environmental watchdog has ordered Google to stop work at two of the sites meant to carry its artificial intelligence build-out in Europe. Hundreds of hectares of northern forest are already gone, and the regulator says the environmental impact assessment that Finnish law requires before that kind of work has not been finished.

The order from the Finnish Supervisory Agency, known as LVV, is aimed at Tuike Finland, the Google subsidiary running the projects at Muhos and Kajaani. It covers everything that reshapes the ground: felling trees, stripping topsoil, building site roads and storage yards, and altering ditches. Google did not argue. “We understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance,” spokesman Sondre Ronander said.

The scale explains why the agency moved. At Muhos, about 330 hectares were cleared, according to figures Tuike itself reported, on a planned site of roughly 571 hectares meant to hold nine data centre buildings. At Kajaani, just under 200 hectares were logged, and it is still unclear whether that clearing was ever approved. Hanna Halmeenpaa, who chairs the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, told AFP that “nature sites which should be preserved” were among the felled ground.

For anyone who types a question into a chatbot, this is the physical end of the transaction. AI models answer from buildings like these, and companies compete to put them where power is low-carbon, the climate keeps servers cool and the grid holds steady, which is why the Nordic countries have drawn data centres for years. Google’s Finnish plan, which the company calls its single biggest investment in Europe, adds up to 13 billion euros over two years across Muhos, Kajaani, Vaala and Hamina. It includes a 22-year agreement to buy up to half the output of the Loviisa nuclear plant.

The order is narrower than it sounds. It does not cancel the investment, it does not touch Vaala or Hamina, and it does not put a single tree back. LVV has not yet visited either site and based its decision on its own investigation and on publicly available drone footage, while Sari Myllyoja, who heads the agency’s communities and infrastructure unit, described the step as unusual. Google says it acted in good faith, carried out environmental surveys and took protective measures, and it is pressing ahead with landscaping plans that include tree planting across 130 hectares at Muhos. That is well under half of what was cut there.

A second thread runs outside the regulator. Police have opened a preliminary inquiry into the work at Muhos after a private individual filed a request, Finnish broadcaster Yle reported, citing the newspaper Iltalehti. Investigators are still weighing whether there is enough evidence of a crime to open a full pre-trial investigation.

The calendar is now short. Tuike Finland has until October 14 to explain to LVV how it intends to proceed, and the agency wants every land-altering measure at both sites suspended no later than October 23, with enforcement proceedings possible if the company does not comply. The environmental impact assessment itself is expected to conclude later this year, and Google says it will “study the LVV’s findings and follow their guidance.”

Until that assessment is signed, the machines at Muhos and Kajaani stay parked, and the bill for the next generation of chatbots carries a line that rarely appears in a product launch: who decides which forest it is allowed to stand on.

Tags: Google, Finland, data centres, Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos