How Pantheon AI's Europe Hyperscale Campus will Power Telcos

Pantheon Atlas has selected a small town in Croatia for a new hyperscale campus, "Pantheon AI", which will become of the continent’s largest digital investments.

The historic town named Topusko, near Zagreb, has only 945 residents, yet is set to host the site of a 310-acre AI data centre and innovation campus valued at €50bn (US$58bn).

Announced at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Dubrovnik, the investment is believed to become the largest investment in Croatian history, and among one of the largest private US investments in Europe.

Pantheon Atlas is a transatlantic-led investment group that will be leading the project, which aligns with NVIDIA GW-Scale AI factory standards for high-performance computing and networking.

The facility's development is not only about compute capacity but also about the fibre, subsea links and low-latency connectivity required to move its vast volumes of data.

Telco networks meet AI infrastructure demand

Pantheon AI addresses a capacity gap that directly affects telco providers.

Across Europe, data centre hubs operate with vacancy rates below 8%, while delays in grid access slow expansion.

At the same time, telco networks face rising traffic as AI workloads increase demand for data transmission and processing.

In Central and Eastern Europe, electricity demand linked to data centres is set to grow three to four times by 2035. Yet the region lacks a gigawatt-scale facility designed for AI, which requires both computing power and high-speed connectivity.

The campus will support up to 1 GW of total capacity, with 800 MW dedicated to IT load.

This scale enables telco operators and hyperscalers to run dense AI workloads that depend on consistent bandwidth and low latency.

Jako Andabak, Founding Partner at PantheonAI, says: "Pantheon AI is a signal to the world that Croatia is open for the highest-calibre investment.

"This project is the culmination of years of work to bring world-class digital infrastructure to Croatia, and we have assembled the deep local expertise, grid relationships and regulatory groundwork required to meet demand for data centre capacity.”

The project’s structure combines US investment with local regulatory and technical knowledge, helping secure planning approval and grid access.

This reduces deployment barriers for telco operators and creates a foundation for expanding fibre and mobile backhaul networks, which connect base stations to core infrastructure.

Fibre routes and subsea links define connectivity

Connectivity sits at the core of the campus design, with four independent fibre routes linking the site across three European Union corridors, ensuring redundancy and resilience.

The GreenMed subsea cable extends this reach, with plans to connect Croatia to Milan by 2028. The inclusion of subsea cables signals how the campus integrates into wider telco ecosystems rather than operating as an isolated facility.

Ryan Rich, Managing Partner of PantheonAI, says: "We have assembled a transatlantic partnership to solve one of the most pressing challenges in global digital infrastructure: enabling hyperscale operators to meet AI-driven demand at scale.

"We have lined up the power, fibre, regulatory stability and institutional support to solve that problem in Europe, and we will establish Croatia and Central Europe as a premier destination for world-class digital infrastructure."

The infrastructure supports edge computing, where data processing occurs closer to the user to reduce latency.

It also strengthens cross-border data flows, which are essential for enterprise services, cloud platforms and emerging AI applications.

Power and resilience underpin network performance

Energy infrastructure plays a direct role in telco reliability.

Pantheon AI will integrate up to 5.2 GW of renewable energy into Croatia’s grid, alongside a 500 MW on-site solar plant that operates behind the meter, so electricity gets generated and used locally without passing through public networks.

A battery storage of 8,000 MWh stabilises supply, ensuring consistent power for both computing and telco equipment.

The campus also connects through four independent 400 kV transmission lines, supporting Tier IV resilience, a standard that defines the highest level of fault tolerance in data centre design.

Joshua Volz, Special Envoy for Global Energy Integration at the US Department of Energy, says: "The race to lead in artificial intelligence is global, and we are pleased to see American capital and investment expertise like Pantheon AI anchoring that leadership in allied, democratic nations.

"Critical infrastructure of this scale, built by the private sector responding to real market demand, is exactly how US interests and European security advance together.”

Construction of the data centre will begin in early 2027, with operations expected by the first quarter of 2029.

The campus sits within 45 minutes of Zagreb and nearby cities, supporting access to skilled telco and engineering talent. It will create 1,500 permanent roles and 3,000 construction jobs, while also offering a potential capacity expansion to 450 acres.

Pantheon AI will act as a network hub where power, fibre and subsea systems converge, shaping how AI services are delivered across Europe.