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. 

From audacious plans to launch data centers into space to the latest legal battles over pollution, The Verge has the biggest news and reporting surrounding data centers.

• 43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills.
• A 40,000-acre data center project was just approved in Utah, despite outcry from the community.
• A political battleground is forming around data centers.
• Are AI data centers coming to your area?
• Data centers will soon have to complete “mandatory” energy usage surveys.
• “A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health.”
• Iran threatens OpenAI’s Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi
• Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
• Arm’s first CPU ever will plug into Meta’s AI data centers later this year
• Lake Tahoe has to look for a new power source as data center demand soars.
• How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
• Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers 
• Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply
• Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricity costs
• How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project
• Microsoft wants to rewire data centers to save space
• New York is considering two bills to rein in the AI industry
• Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says
• It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers
• Microsoft gets approval to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
• Meta is spending millions to convince people that data centers are cool and you like them
• The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers
• Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
• OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage
• ICE hits Meta data center project.
• Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
• Microsoft scrambles to quell fury around its new AI data centers
• Data center projects are dropping like flies.
• That’s a lot of money for just one data center job.
• Alphabet is acquiring a data center company.
• Communities are rising up against data centers — and winning
• Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers’ impact on electricity costs 
• Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space
• AI’s water and electricity use soars in 2025
• Racks of AI chips are too damn heavy
• The scramble to launch data centers into space is heating up
• Data center construction moratorium is gaining steam
• Satya Nadella acknowledged that data centers are “putting a lot of pressure” on power grids.
• The largest power grid system in the US is considering rolling blackouts because of energy-hungry data centers.
• Data centers in Oregon might be helping to drive an increase in cancer and miscarriages
• Nvidia says some AI GPUs are ‘sold out,’ grows data center business by $10B in just three months
• Data centers are already influencing the global forecast for clean energy.
• Anthropic will invest $50 billion in building AI data centers in the US
• Google has a ‘moonshot’ plan for AI data centers in space
• Google is turning on the gas for its data centers
• Why data centers are building their own power plants
• Electricity costs are up to 267 percent higher than they used to be in communities near data centers.
• Microsoft says this new cooling method could enable more powerful chips and efficient data centers
• OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new AI data centers as part of Stargate.
• Microsoft is turning Foxconn’s empty buildings into the ‘world’s most powerful’ AI data center
• Nvidia invests $5 billion into Intel to jointly develop PC and data center chips
• Tech companies ‘be on alert,’ NAACP says with new guiding principles for data centers
• Meta faces Democratic probe into plans to power a giant data center with gas
• Amazon is investing billions more into its Mississippi data centers.
• Mark Zuckerberg wants you to know he has a big AI data center, too
• Bill Gates’ nuclear energy startup inks new data center deal
• OpenAI and SoftBank are starting a $500 billion AI data center company
• CBS News reports OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank will announce a “Stargate” AI data center project.
• Joe Biden signs executive order to speed AI data center construction
• Go read this report on Arizona data centers and those without power in the state.
• Google’s future data centers will be built next to solar and wind farms
• Meta is putting a $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana.
• xAI competitors are flying spy planes over the ‘Colossus’ data center.
• New AI data centers could raise Americans’ electricity bills.
• Some Memphis residents are pissed about xAI’s new data center.
• Can Meta clean up its data centers with geothermal energy?
• xAI faces accusations its data center is polluting the air.
• This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down
• Google plans to reuse heat after expanding a data center for AI
• AI and crypto mining are driving up data centers’ energy use
• Google’s new geothermal energy project is up and running
• The environmental impact of the AI revolution is starting to come into focus
• How data centers at public pools can keep swimmers warm
• Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers?