Earlier this year, crews cleared hundreds of hectares of boreal forest in northern Finland for a new Google data center, part of the company's €13 billion expansion in the country. They stripped topsoil, cut roads and dug drainage ditches, all before the legally required environmental impact assessment was done. On October 7, Finnish regulators ordered work to stop at this site and a second one in Kajaani until those reviews are complete. Police have since opened a preliminary investigation into suspected illegal logging, and Google admitted it "fell short" of its own standards. Finland's cold climate and clean power have made it a magnet for the AI boom. As this timelapse shows, the speed of that boom can outrun the rules meant to protect the land beneath it.

View on Instagram →