As Trump eyes Greenland, former aide pushes for billion-dollar AI data center in Arctic Island — Here's all we know

Drew Horn, CEO of GreenMet and a senior aide to Donald Trump’s first-term vice president Mike Pence, is planning a “multi-billion-dollar data center project” in Greenland's remote Kangerlussuaq region, according to a CNBC report.

He is positioning it as the solution to world's artificial intelligence hyperscaler's power requirements, as the AI infrastructure race continues to gather pace, it said. The data centre project aims to reach 300 MW operation by mid-2027 and expand to 1.5 GW by 2028-end, the report added.

According to Horn, the project will cost “billions” and has binding commitment from investors to finance half each of its first and final phases of development, CNBC reported.

AI data centre in Greenland? Here's what we know…

• The report said that Horn is planning a multi-billion-dollar data center project in the remote Kangerlussuaq area of Greenland.
• The project aims to be operational at 300 MW by mid-2027 and expand to 1.5 GW by the end of 2028.
• The project has binding commitments for half of its initial phase of development and half of the final phase. No names were shared, it said.
• Horn's company GreenMet is offering strategic support to the project which will be located in the Kangerlussuaq area that has an airport.
• As per the report, local authority approvals for the project are pending, and land is also yet to be secured.
• “Our effort, which is purely private, it succeeds only if we have the buy-in from the relevant affected parties and countries,” Horn told CNBC.

Why is this significant? Donald Trump, geopolitics, critical minerals in focus

The likelihood of an AI related project in Greenland gains significance amid United States President Donald Trump's hard push to acquire the Arctic nation, which belongs to Denmark.

It reflects the possibility that the decision to go after Greenland is more than just geopolitics and could also be driven by access to the Arctic Island's critical mineral resources, according to a report by the World Construction Network.

Critical minerals or rare earths are required for the next-generation technology infrastructure, including large-scale AI data centres and power grids. The island nation is known to have significant deposits of the required copper, nickel, and rare earths.

Further, climate wise too, Greenland’s Arctic environment drastically cuts nearly 40% of a typical data centre’s energy consumption due to less cooling need, the report added.

According to Goldman Sachs, data centre electricity consumption globally is set to increase by 50% by 2027 from 2023, and thus the access to rare earths and the Arctic climate could turn out to be the linchpin in securing a lead in the AI race.