Google ordered to halt work on two data centers in ‘Texas of Europe’

TechPublished Wed, Oct 7 20265:26 AM EDTKey PointsGoogle has been ordered to halt work on two data centers it's developing in Finland until environmental impact assessments have been completed."We understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance," a Google spokesperson told CNBC. Finland has emerged as a key location for data centers amid the AI boom.Google has been ordered to halt work on two data centers it's developing in Finland, a month after the tech giant committed to investing $15 billion in AI infrastructure in the country. Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency (LVV) on Tuesday issued a notice to Google subsidiary, Tuike Finland Oy, to suspend building work for data center projects planned for Muhos and Kajaani until the environmental impact assessments have been completed.The suspension request applies, among other things, to the removal of trees, removal of topsoil, excavation, quarrying, crushing, transfer of soil masses, ditching and the construction of roads and storage areas, according to a Google translation of an LVV press release."We understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance,...