A former Trump aide is pushing for a billion-dollar AI data center in Greenland as the administration eyes Arctic territorial interests.

Drew Horn, CEO of GreenMet and a senior aide to Donald Trump's first-term vice president Mike Pence, is planning a "multi-billion-dollar data center project" in Greenland's remote Kangerlussuaq region. The project is positioned as a solution to the power requirements of the world's artificial intelligence hyperscalers as the AI infrastructure race accelerates. According to Horn, the initiative will cost "billions" and has binding commitment from investors to finance half of each of its first and final phases of development.

The data centre project aims to reach 300 MW of operation by mid-2027 and expand to 1.5 GW by the end of 2028. The timing and location of this ambitious infrastructure initiative gain particular significance given United States President Donald Trump's hard push to acquire Greenland, the Arctic nation that belongs to Denmark. The emergence of an AI-related project there suggests that the decision to pursue Greenland may be driven by more than geopolitics alone and could reflect interest in accessing the nation's critical mineral resources.

Greenland holds significant deposits of copper, nickel, and rare earth elements—materials essential for next-generation technology infrastructure, including large-scale AI data centres and power grids. Beyond mineral wealth, Greenland's Arctic environment offers a substantial operational advantage: the cold climate drastically cuts nearly 40% of a typical data centre's energy consumption by reducing cooling requirements. According to Goldman Sachs, global data centre electricity consumption is set to increase by 50% between 2023 and 2027, making access to both critical mineral resources and Arctic cooling capacity potentially decisive factors in securing a competitive edge in the AI race.