DE‑CIX expanded its presence in the Nordics, launching a new internet and cloud exchange in Stockholm, Sweden.

The IX looks to add to its existing Nordic presence, bolstering sites located in Denmark, Norway, and Finland. The addition of the Swedish capital will be launched in September.

Having entered the region in 2023, this latest effort has an AI-centric positioning to it, with DE‑CIX claiming the Stockholm IX will be “AI‑ready” upon launch.

Designed to support data‑intensive workloads and cloud‑based AI applications, the Swedish site will feature capabilities from the vendor’s AI‑IX offering, which packages ultra‑low latency interconnection services with routes optimized for AI traffic.

The AI-centered announcement comes as the Nordics become an increasingly important region for AI buildout.

Naturally occurring cold air provides free cooling, while abundant hydroelectric resources provide plentiful, low-cost power compared to highly saturated data center markets in Europe. The Norwegian Data Center Industry (NDI) previously estimated installed capacity across the Nordics is projected to grow by up to 580 MW annually, while data platform provider Ember had forecast data center demand in the region to surge by up to 110% by 2030.

Nscale, for example, is the neocloud firm tasked with building out the European leg of OpenAI’s mammoth Stargate project. The ChatGPT maker is already renting space in its Kvandal data center in Norway, while investment company Aker ASA has joined the pair to support the creation of a compute gigafactory project in Narvik, with Nokia providing networking technologies.

DE-CIX’s new home in Sweden, meanwhile, is just as integral on the digital infrastructure stage as its Nordic neighbor. Telia is building a sovereign AI venture for the country, with investment firm Brookfield Asset Management prepared to inject up to $10 billion to support the project.

In Stockholm itself, neocloud giant CoreWeave leases capacity from two campuses in the capital. Meanwhile, Nordic data center firm AtNorth is developing a second data center in the city as U.S. colo giants Digital Realty and Equinix are reportedly circling over a potential acquisition. And GlobalConnect kickstarted plans to triple internet capacity across the region back in January.

“With more than 30 data centers, Stockholm is a huge hub for the Nordics, handling 55% of total Nordic Internet traffic. It is the largest colocation market in the region, supported by 125+ active network providers,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE‑CIX.

“By expanding to Stockholm with an AI‑ready Internet and Cloud Exchange, we are bringing our interconnection services closer to customers in Sweden and the wider Nordic region, while seamlessly integrating them into our global ecosystem. This enables enterprises, networks, and cloud providers to build and scale AI‑driven applications with confidence.”

DE-CIX’s Nordic expansion follows updates to its New York point-of-presence in the iconic 60 Hudson Street carrier hotel.