All articles tagged with #datacenters
Jen Sorensen's Daily Kos cartoon 'Playing the jealousy card' uses satire to critique billionaire wealth, AI hype, and the datacenter boom, while noting Daily Kos's financial challenges and appealing to readers for donations to stay paywall-free.
Tech stocks rebounded as investors bet on ongoing semiconductor demand, but Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle reportedly carry about $1.65 trillion in off-balance-sheet debt tied to data-center expansion, sparking renewed investor concern.
Seattle City Council unanimously approved a year-long moratorium on building new AI-focused datacenters, with an amendment allowing existing centers to expand up to 20 MW during the pause. The goal is to study electricity use and urban-land implications and potentially require conditions such as transit and housing investments for permits. Activists worry the measure won’t curb power demand and could spur other centers to push for expansions, while officials push for broader state regulation in the next legislative session amid regional scrutiny of AI infrastructure and jobs.
An analysis finds about two-thirds of 809 planned US AI datacenters are in drought-affected areas, setting the stage for rising water use—up to about 73 billion gallons annually by 2028—sparking local opposition and policy talks even as firms push for water-efficient cooling.
New York lawmakers advanced a one-year moratorium on hyperscale datacenters over 20MW, with an environmental impact report and safeguards for energy use and ratepayers, sending the bill to Governor Hochul for signature amid a nationwide backlash over AI infrastructure.
Seattle’s city council committees approved a year-long moratorium on new datacenters to study impacts and draft regulations for the AI industry, including energy use, land use, labor standards, and potential public-benefit requirements, while exploring separate rates for large-load customers; the move aims to protect residents from costs and environmental harms and could set a regional precedent as tech workers and activists back the pause.
Nvidia beat Q1 2026 revenue and EPS estimates with $81.62B revenue and $1.87 per share, led by 92% year‑over‑year growth in its datacenter business to a record $75.2B, underscoring the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout and competition from Amazon/Google. The company also cited China export uncertainties and ongoing Vera Rubin rollout, as it eyes expansion in Southeast Asia and broader AI adoption across industries.
A rising wave of local resistance and power constraints threatens AI data-center expansion in the U.S., potentially slowing capacity growth for Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet as towns block or delay projects and costs rise, even as AI remains a major growth theme and the big players maintain strong balance sheets.
This op-ed argues that the anti-datacenter movement is a crucial, cross-partisan fight to curb AI infrastructure's power and defend democracy, not mere “nimby” activism. Local moratoriums and community organizing from North Carolina to New Jersey show how residents can push for safety, energy and water safeguards, jobs, and transparency, challenging backroom deals by big tech and investors. Proposals from Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, including state moratoriums and potential federal regulation, are highlighted as ways to leverage public pressure for meaningful AI governance. The authors counter liberal critiques that frame the movement as elitist, insisting that blocking datacenters creates political leverage to rein in tech giants and spur accountable, democratic control of AI. They warn that tech PR, dark money, and aggressive tactics will intensify, but view this resistance as an opportunity to build a broad, populist coalition that can shape a safer, more democratic AI future.
Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill that would have frozen new large datacenters (>20 MW) until 2027 to study the grid and electricity costs, saying she supports a temporary moratorium but requires an exemption for the Jay project; she will instead push an executive order to form a council to study impacts and has barred datacenters from certain business tax incentives. The Jay site is expected to bring hundreds of construction and permanent jobs and significant tax revenue, illustrating the clash between investment and energy costs in a rural state, while several states nationally weigh similar limits on AI datacenter growth.
TD Cowen says Intel could benefit from rising CPU demand tied to AI workloads as hyperscale data centers lean toward CPU orchestration, but maintains a Hold due to execution risks and a rich valuation. Intel’s in-house server roadmap and the Fab 34 buyback signal an improved demand picture, though near-term competitive headwinds remain. The stock trades at a premium versus peers like Nvidia, with the overall consensus target in the low-to-mid $50s and a Hold rating.
Marvell Technology beat estimates with EPS of $0.80 on $2.22 billion in revenue, led by AI-driven data-center demand (data center revenue $1.65B). The company posted a record fiscal 2026 revenue of $8.195 billion, up 42% year over year, and guided Q1 2026 to about $0.79 per share on roughly $2.40 billion in revenue. With hyperscalers like Amazon and Meta fueling AI workloads, management expects robust demand through 2026. The stock jumped ~10%, and analysts’ consensus remains Strong Buy with a target near $118, implying meaningful upside.
Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and other AI-focused firms joined the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, promising to fund new electricity generation or capacity upgrades for their datacenters and to secure favorable utility rate arrangements, in an effort to prevent data centers from driving up consumer electricity costs. Experts warn the pledge could be more symbolic than effective if new generation can't be brought online quickly, as policymakers weigh energy affordability ahead of the midterm elections.
OpenAI unveils a $110 billion funding round valuing it at about $840 billion, with major backing from Nvidia, SoftBank and Amazon, signaling a rapid push to scale frontier AI ahead of a likely mega-IPO; the deal expands datacenter capacity and reinforces cloud partnerships (AWS for Frontier, Azure for APIs) while Nvidia’s earlier commitment timing remains unclear, highlighting the AI infrastructure race amid energy and job-disruption concerns.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman defended AI’s power usage by comparing it to the energy needed to raise a human, while urging a swift switch to nuclear and renewable power. The discussion comes amid rising concerns over datacenter electricity and water use, with IEA data showing growing datacenter energy demand and critics warning of climate and water security risks as datacenter expansion continues. Altman's remarks drew online backlash from skeptics who questioned the net societal benefits of the technology.