Criminal investigation launched into Google's Finnish data center project

Date:
Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Description:
Remember the furore over Google's AI data center in Finland? The police are now investigating the matter.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Google's subsidiary Tuike Finland cleared and drained 330 hectares of forest at Muhos for a data center site The company failed to get the necessary environmental impact assessments completed before carrying out the felling A preliminary police investigation is now taking place, based on 'ambiguities and shortcomings in the drainage and water management', although the results of this won't be known until 2027 A preliminary police investigation is now underway into Google's clearing of
a forest in Finland to make space for an AI data center.

As The Guardian reports , the allegation is that Google 's subsidiary Tuike Finland cleared and drained 330 hectares of forest at the site in Muhos
before it had ensured the necessary environmental impact assessments were completed. Yle (Finland's public broadcasting company) further reports that the police have said that the investigation is into suspected environmental damage, but the other possible charges could be added depending on its
ongoing findings. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

Finnish police said: "Based on preliminary information, there have been ambiguities and shortcomings in the drainage and water management at the construction site of Tuike Finland Oy's datacentre project."

The investigation will be far from a short process, though, and won't be completed until some point in 2027. You may like Google and Microsoft hit by fresh criticism of their AI data center plans Google to invest $15 billion in AI infrastructure in Finland, its largest single investment in Europe Google invests $15bn in Finland and secures 500 MW power from Soviet-era nuclear power plant till 2050

Construction work was stopped on the data center in Muhos, and also at a second data center site at Kajaani-Otanmki, on October 14. In both cases, the environmental assessments were apparently incomplete.

Antti Jrvinen, who heads up Google Finland as country manager, apologized for the forest clearances, but said that Google had acted according to the "best understanding we had of the legislation at the time." Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Analysis: the rush for AI data centers (Image credit: Microsoft) Some 400,000 trees have reportedly been felled across both sites (250,000 of those at Muhos). As The Guardian makes clear in a separate report from last week ( via Tom's Hardware ), there are a lot of very unhappy Finnish people, as you might imagine.

Many of them question the building of data centers at all, and the AI gold rush that's the driving force behind this activity. There's apparently little direct benefit for the people of the country where these projects are underway, with only a small number of local jobs created. As a professor of computer science at the University of Helsinki, Jussi Kangasharju points out, "Really, for Finland, there are no benefits. They are international companies serving international customers. Datacentres ultimately have little benefit for others except the datacentre operator."

Others obviously worry about the impact on wildlife. Finnish conservationists inform us that the three-toed woodpeckers in the forest have been displaced, and The Guardian highlighted that in Otanmki, wolves that had nowhere to go when the trees were felled ended up coming into a local village.

It will be some time before the criminal investigation is completed, as
noted, but you can bet that the results are going to be closely watched. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. The best laptops for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/a-criminal-investigation-is-now-underway-i nto-googles-ai-data-center-project-in-finland-where-330-hectares-of-forest-wer e-torn-down


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