All the latest updates on AI data centers

Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.

Data centers were a major bipartisan issue ahead of the 2026 midterms, and voters largely opposed data center expansion at the polls. Tech giants like OpenAI and Amazon are promising to work more closely with local communities and cover their data center energy costs. But following the election, Democratic leaders are calling for further data center restrictions and slowdowns that the AI companies will have to grapple with.

From audacious plans about data centers into space, heated local battles over buildouts, and potential environmental impacts, here’s The Verge’s news, coverage, and reporting surrounding data centers and the companies that are building them.

• Lame-duck Congress might actually do something: speed up energy projects
• “We are a data center first company,” AMD CEO Lisa Su says.
• OpenAI is stepping back from NDAs for data center projects
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Data centers lost the midterms
• Maine Republican Susan Collins concedes Senate seat in a tech-fueled race.
• Democrat projected to win Ohio seat that Republicans warned could spell trouble for data centers.
• Data center-dense Texas turns blue.
• OpenAI is quietly renaming data centers ‘compute campuses’
• OpenAI pitches data center power plants as a way to protect nearby areas
• Could data center backlash flip Florida?
• Prop 45 in California could be hiding a loophole for data centers
• Maine’s data center revolt will decide who controls the Senate
• Data centers could send US climate pollution skyrocketing
• AI has come for Arizona’s water
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Voters in Texas agree: They hate data centers
• Highway robbers are targeting trucks carrying data center components.
• Data center backlash is uniting America
• Anthropic is burning gas to feed the AI boom
• It’s a good time to sell gray paint.
• Data centers could erase decades of air quality gains
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Trump says paying communities a “dividend” could make data centers more popular.
• Texas is still permitting data centers despite a supposed statewide moratorium.
• The fossil fuel comeback is here
• Microsoft abandons the UK’s largest data center project. </li

  Source: www.theverge.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.