Global Data Centers News

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) announced a webinar discussing new polling on Americans’ views of data centers and the implications for U.S. AI policy.

• Event details: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT; format: webinar.
• Discussion focus: public opposition to nearby data center development, concerns about electricity prices, water use, land use, and quality of life, and what this means for U.S. AI competitiveness.
• Speakers:Daniel Castro (President, ITIF) and Seb Wride (Partner, Public First); audience questions collected via Slido.
• The event frames AI leadership as dependent on building the physical infrastructure that powers it and explores policy approaches to address community concerns without sacrificing infrastructure expansion.

NVIDIA has announced a partnership with SB Energy to secure LPS capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Portsmouth, Ohio, for an AI factory that OpenAI will occupy as tenant.

• The initial deployment is expected to deliver 4.25 gigawatts of AI factory capacity, with NVIDIA’s support covering approximately 4 gigawatts over a 20-year term and becoming effective in phases as data centers are placed in service between 2028 and 2030.
• NVIDIA said the site could support multiple upgrade cycles over 20 years; each generation could represent about 1.5 million GPUs and $150 billion to $200 billion in NVIDIA revenue, while broader OpenAI commitments through 2030 were said to represent about 12 gigawatts of NVIDIA compute, expandable to 16 gigawatts if the remaining capacity is extended.

DataBank has announced that its employees, vendors, and customers completed a backpack drive for Bluffdale Elementary students and teachers, delivering 60 backpacks stocked with school supplies. - Over $1,250 was donated to purchase backpacks and supplies, and 27 employees helped pack them at the Salt Lake City data center.

• The backpacks included items such as a water bottle, notebook, ruler, crayons, pencil pouch, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener, glue stick, and kid scissors; extra school supplies were also set aside for teachers.
• The article is a community relations / CSR recap, not a first-time product or infrastructure announcement, and it also references several past DataBank community activities at other data centers.

Salute has published an interview with Christina Duarte, a military spouse and Talent Acquisition Recruiter at the company, about her path into the data center industry.

• Duarte says she was contacted through the MSEP portal and later joined Salute, where she found an industry she knew little about and a role that could move with her military family.
• She discusses living in Germany before moving to the United States in 2019, and being stationed with her husband at Robins AFB (Georgia), Travis AFB (California), and MacDill AFB (Florida); the piece is an interview/commentary, not a new business announcement.

Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys were quoted in an International Business Times article about Texas pausing data center grid connections amid growing oversight of ERCOT’s interconnection queue.

• The article says Texas has paused data center connections while the ERCOT queue has grown to more than 1,800 projects totaling 474 GW.
• Troutman Pepper Locke’s John K. Arnold, Brandon Lobb, and Rachael Beavers warned that power generation investors and tech firms should reassess capital deployment schedules and counterparty termination rights.
• This is a press-coverage piece referencing a prior Troutman Pepper Locke article; it is not itself a primary company announcement.

NextEra Energy has announced definitive agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Government of Japan to fund development and operation of up to 10 GW of natural gas-powered generation in Texas and Pennsylvania.

• The first tranche of funding will support development activities including down payments on long-lead equipment, such as turbines, and selection of engineering, procurement and construction contractors.
• The projects were selected in connection with Japan’s $550 billion investment commitment to the United States; initial resources are expected online by end-2028 and completion is expected in 2032. The release also cites a $3.3 billion initial investment and a $17 billion South Mon project with 4.3 GW of generation.

Blue Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy have announced an agreement to advance the next phase of their collaboration on a 2.5 GW gas-plus-nuclear power plant in Victoria, Texas.

• The agreement launches engineering design, licensing, and safety analysis for the Texas project, with a final investment decision in 2027.
• The project would initially supply a nearby data center with about 1 GW from two GE Vernova gas turbines in 2030, then add 1.5 GW from up to five BWRX-300 SMRs beginning in 2032; the first BWRX-300 remains under construction at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Canada.
• Blue Energy says its “Blue Way” uses prefabrication, transportation, and assembly to improve schedule, cost, and delivery predictability; the release also includes company background and investor/media contacts.

Natural Gas Intelligence quoted Troutman Pepper Locke’s article on Texas data center grid connections and the state’s growing oversight push.

• Attorneys John Arnold, Brandon Lobb, and Rachael Beavers said ERCOT interconnection queue participants “face a delay of indeterminate duration” after Texas froze a 474 GW grid queue.
• The article says Texas had been expected to overtake Virginia as the largest US data center market, but that outcome is now “materially less certain”; Abbott plans to work with the Texas Legislature when it convenes in January 2027, and Troutman attorneys expect the PUCT to seek expanded statutory authority.