In 2021, Hive Digital Technologies invested $66 million (about 660 million SEK) in new powerful equipment. Now, this investment may provide Boden with entirely new conditions for the development of AI.
Hive Digital Technologies went public in 2017 as the first cryptocurrency company with a green energy and ESG strategy. The following year, the company was established in Boden and converted a hangar into a data center
The business idea was to use the technology to deliver services for the production of digital assets such as Bitcoin, which turned out to be a success. Over the years, the company has developed its operations. Both with investments in new data centers in other locations, and also in the equipment.
A major investment was made in 2021 when the Swedish part of the company, Bikupa Datacenter, purchased powerful graphics processors for $66 million. At that time, the purpose was to optimize blockchain technology for digital assets, but three years later, parts of that equipment are being repurposed for a completely new application area: Artificial Intelligence (AI).
– We are seeing an increased demand for cloud services related to AI and machine learning. These are services that require large capacity, and we are in possession of technology that is highly sought after. Therefore, we are now repurposing parts of our operations to be able to offer this,” says Johanna Thörnblad, CEO of Hive Datacenter in Sweden.
High-performance data centers
Customers with the need for High-Performance Computing (HPC), which enables services like ChatGPT and advanced research, will now be able to have dedicated space in their cloud services.
– It is very exciting to be part of this development. Some compare it to the early days of the internet,” she says.
Bikupa Datacenter is also clear that they want to be a positive force in the civil society of Boden. This is one of the reasons why they have chosen to sponsor the city’s ice hockey team with significant sums. Money that is partly dedicated to youth and grassroots activities.
– We really like Boden and hope that our new initiative will make Boden even more attractive within the business sector. There are companies that see great benefits in being close to a data center with HPC services.”
Innovative industry
The company has also signed a letter of intent with food tech company Agtira, which will build a 10,000 square meter greenhouse on the Boden Plug & Play site, and this will, in turn, be heated by the waste heat from the data center.
– We are in an innovative industry and are always trying to find models to become even more sustainable. This circular thinking has been evident from Boden municipality’s side since our first meeting, and it was a major reason why we chose to come here,” says Johanna Thörnblad and continues:
– Finding a new application for the waste heat is a way to use energy better and think more sustainably. We can definitely improve, but sustainability is high on the priority list.”
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