January 25, 2026

Top news (global)

• Policy pushback in the US: Environmental Coalition Calls For Pause In Data Center Development — a Wisconsin coalition is asking for a statewide pause on data centre development until a “10‑point framework” is adopted (clean energy, ratepayer protection, environmental reporting).
• Financial-sector resilience + new capacity plans in Europe: Bundesbank President warns of 5,000 cyberattacks per minute — Deutsche Bundesbank says it repels 5,000+ cyberattacks per minute and confirms plans for three major data centres in France, Italy and Germany.
• Server supply chain tightening: Intel pivots to Xeon for AI, impacting low-end PCs — Intel is shifting manufacturing capacity from client CPUs to Xeon to meet AI/data-centre demand; the article flags knock-on impacts including ~15–20% consumer PC price rises in 2026 and projections for memory prices >65% YoY and NAND up to 25% in 2026.

Key deals & projects

Europe (France/Italy/Germany)

• Bundesbank President warns of 5,000 cyberattacks per minute
  • Confirms plans for three major data centres located in France, Italy and Germany (no MW/capex/timelines disclosed).
  • Context: the bank frames this within operational resilience (cyber + crisis readiness) and support for a digital euro described as a “digital twin”.

North America (US)

• Eos launches Indensity BESS to boost grid and data centers
  • Eos Energy Enterprises launched “Indensity”, a zinc-based battery energy storage system architecture paired with AI-enabled “DawnOS”.
  • Positioned for grid reliability and high-demand loads such as data centres, highlighting 4–16+ hour long-duration capability and “expanding U.S. manufacturing capability” (no project pipeline or pricing disclosed).

Power, grid & interconnection highlights

• Long-duration storage as a data-centre adjacency theme: Eos launches Indensity BESS to boost grid and data centers
  • The announcement emphasizes multi-hour (4–16+ hour) duration—relevant to grid-constrained markets where firming/peak shaving and resilience are central questions for new large-load interconnections.

Policy & regulation

United States (Wisconsin)

• Environmental Coalition Calls For Pause In Data Center Development
  • The Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin calls for a statewide pause on data centre development until a “comprehensive, 10‑point framework” is in place.
  • The coalition contrasts its proposal with a recently passed Republican-backed Assembly bill that would:
    • require on-site renewables, and
    • direct the Public Service Commission to limit ratepayer exposure to data-centre infrastructure costs.

Technology, cybersecurity & operations (implications for data-centre investors)

Cyber/operational resilience

• Bundesbank President warns of 5,000 cyberattacks per minute

  • The bank reports defending against 5,000+ cyberattacks per minute, underscoring the increasing operational-security bar for critical workloads.

• Side-channel attacks exploiting Open vSwitch cache hierarchy remotely

  • An arXiv paper (submitted 22 Jan 2026) describes three remote side-channel attacks against Open vSwitch (OVS) cache hierarchy: remote covert channels, header recovery, and packet rate monitoring; includes evaluation of mitigation solutions.

Compute supply/demand and pricing signals

• Intel pivots to Xeon for AI, impacting low-end PCs
  • Intel is reallocating manufacturing capacity toward server CPUs (Xeon) to meet AI/data-centre demand; the piece expects constrained low-end PC supply in 2026 and flags broader component price pressure (notably memory).

Environmental measurement and reporting signals

• Calculator measures environmental cost of each internet search
  • University of Exeter and Madeby.studio released “Digital Impact for Species”, a tool grading websites A+ to F using CO₂, energy, water use and biodiversity effects, based on Google PageSpeed Insights (page weight + hosting energy sources).
  • Notes the internet is estimated at 3.7% of global emissions (as stated in the story), adding momentum to measurement-led scrutiny across digital infrastructure.

2-line close

Regulatory scrutiny and stakeholder expectations around large-load growth are broadening, alongside rising focus on operational resilience. Technology and power solutions are converging around higher-density demand and more measurable environmental outcomes.