The Microsoft ecosystem already generates 7.3 billion euros in the Portuguese economy and could grow with new investments in digital infrastructure, including the Sines data centre.
Nscale is involved in the data centre to be built in Sines and has just secured the largest funding round ever for a European company. The British tech firm raised two billion dollars (1.73 billion euros at the current exchange rate) in an investment round that values the company at 14.6 billion dollars. The round was led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, but the highlight among investors is Nvidia, the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by sales volume. Other participants include Nokia, Lenovo, Astra Capital Management, Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, Linden Advisors, and Point72. Founded in 2024, Nscale is a startup that has already achieved a decisive status in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem by developing infrastructure, data centres, and operating cloud services. To fuel its growth, it recently appointed three new board members: Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta; Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and Meta executive; and Susan Decker, former president of Yahoo. Notably, among Nscale's responsibilities is the installation of 12,600 state-of-the-art Nvidia chips at the data centre to be built in Sines. Construction is being handled by Start Campus, and the technological infrastructure is the result of a partnership between Nvidia and Microsoft, two of the world's largest technology and AI companies. AICEP applauds Microsoft's investment in Sines, which strengthens the country's position as a European digital hub. Nokia guarantees 'cutting-edge technology' to accelerate Nvidia's data centres. Over 12,000 Nvidia AI chips are on their way to bolster the Sines data centre.
The administrations of the Ports of Lisbon and Setúbal on Monday launched a new phase of technological modernisation, involving an investment of €750,000 in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the construction of a new integrated local data centre that consolidates computing systems.