OpenAI and Anthropic are seeking to secure immediate capacity, through smaller data center deals, to meet current demand, despite spending billions on massive deals elsewhere.
Local opposition to data center buildouts has blocked $68 billion worth of data center projects in the second quarter of 2026, despite investments still rising.
This Ratepayer Protection Act will make data centers pay for grid upgrades made in their name. However, it still has to go through the senate and the White House, before being considered by individual state regulators for adoption.
The round values the data center giant at $30.9 billion.
A new coalition that includes Google, Nvidia, Anthropic and Emerald AI wants to find 100 GW of grid capacity for new data centers.
The Community Investment Framework puts forward recommendations that towns and municipalities could follow when negotiating with data center developers. This includes charging $1 million per megawatt of demand, among other suggestions.
![AWS tells clients to quit Middle East data centers six months after Iranian drone strikes — Amazon offers no recovery timeline as UAE mulls underground data centers [Updated]](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7cUTDmN2PHNRiNBVqbKf56-1920-80.png)
Amazon Web Services’ data centers in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain were struck by drone attacks more than six months ago. Now, the company has told customers to move their data to other regions, and it has no details on when repair work will be completed.
The AI frenzy could push U.S. data centers to become one of the largest consumers of natural gas in the world.
Data centers in the U.S. are projected to use up more natural gas than most of the rest of the world to generate the electricity they need. Estimates suggest that 15 billion cubic feet per day are needed to keep data centers running by 2035.
A new report claims AI data center builders are getting more savvy about offering communities tangible benefits to get their projects approved.