June the 14th, 2026 – The very controversial future Topusko AI centre is being hailed as the largest technology project ever announced in Croatia, and it apparently started not with complex business plans, but sheep.
Behind the project is Pantheon, the planned (and deeply controversial) AI and data centre development in Topusko that investors describe as one of the largest infrastructure investments ever announced in Croatia. Poslovni reports that this huge project combines digital infrastructure, energy production, transport upgrades, and long-term regional development in a part of the country more often associated with thermal springs and rural landscapes than artificial intelligence.
According to investor and entrepreneur Jako Andabak (who, for those in the know, is a name deeply associated with Sunce Koncern), the original concept looked very different. The starting point was not data processing or AI infrastructure, but land and renewable energy. Andabak explained that he originally planned a large solar energy project on land around Topusko. One practical question followed: how would vegetation beneath thousands of solar panels be maintained?
sheep, ai, and plenty of questions
The answer was surprisingly low-tech, and it involves the noble and humble sheep.
Instead of relying entirely on machinery, the idea was to use grazing animals to manage the landscape beneath the panels. From there came a second question; if renewable energy is being produced at scale, what should consume it? That line of thinking eventually evolved into the idea of developing a large-scale data centre. Today, the vision is far larger than the original concept.
Pantheon is being presented as a major AI and data infrastructure campus supported by international partners, with plans involving large-scale power supply systems, dedicated energy infrastructure, extensive transmission upgrades, and thousands of jobs during construction and operation. Investors say the project is designed to compete with larger European digital infrastructure hubs rather than operate as a conventional regional facility. Supporters argue the project could help reposition Croatia within Europe’s technology economy, but those against it cite critical environmental concerns and the massive water usage for which AI is being so demonised.
the growing anti-ai sentiment and environmental concerns
Data centres increasingly underpin almost everything modern economies depend on, cloud services, AI systems, communications, financial services, digital platforms, and industrial processes. Countries across Europe are competing to attract these investments as demand for computing power accelerates. However, the scale of projects like Pantheon also raises difficult questions. Data centres are among the world’s largest electricity consumers and increasingly face scrutiny over energy demand, water use, environmental impact, and local infrastructure pressure. European regulations are also placing growing emphasis on energy efficiency and operational transparency.
will pantheon ever happen? who knows…
That debate is likely to intensify as planning moves forward, and for the otherwise entirely overlooked Topusko itself, however, the conversation is broader than technology. The municipality has long faced the same demographic and economic pressures affecting many smaller Croatian communities, there’s been a marked population decline, limited investment, and a need for new economic anchors. Whether Pantheon ultimately becomes reality at the announced scale remains to be seen.
The mere idea that one of Croatia’s most ambitious digital projects ever may have begun with a conversation about maintaining grass beneath the solar panels says something about how unexpected innovation can sometimes be. It also shows just how closely we must still cling to nature, and how powerless we actually are in its shadow, regardless of our capacity to build modern technology.
