New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- Google's $15 billion expansion of AI infrastructure in Finland has hit an environmental roadblock, with authorities ordering work at two planned data centre sites to stop until mandatory environmental impact assessments are completed. The dispute highlights a growing challenge for the AI industry: how to build the infrastructure needed to power increasingly advanced AI systems while meeting environmental rules governing land and natural resources.

The Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) has ordered Tuike Finland, a company representing Google, to suspend preparatory work at sites in Muhos and Kajaani by 23 October. The agency is investigating whether hundreds of hectares of forest were cleared without the required envir...