Massachusetts Data Center News

Apr 23, 2026

Bain Capital to sell stake in bridge data centres at $5 billion valuation, sources say

Bain Capital is seeking to sell at least a 40% stake in Bridge Data Centres (BDC), targeting a valuation of $5 billion and has hired Citigroup and JPMorgan to run the sale.

Main announcement: Bain Capital has launched a sale process for at least 40% of Bridge Data Centres (BDC) with an implied valuation of $5 billion, and has appointed Citigroup and JPMorgan as advisers; indicative bids are due by the middle or end of next month. Bain would consider selling a larger or controlling stake if it receives an attractive offer but is unlikely to fully exit at this time.
Background & transaction context: BDC builds hyperscale and co-location data centres across Malaysia, Thailand and India, was founded by Michael Foust and Kris Kumar in partnership with Bain, was previously merged into Chindata (listed on Nasdaq in 2020), later separated under WinTriX after Bain took Chindata private in a $3.16 billion deal in 2023; Bain sold Chindata in January to a consortium led by Shenzhen Dongyangguang Industry Co valuing that business at $4 billion. Comparable recent deals cited include KKR/ST Telemedia S$6.6 billion ($5.2 billion) and Vantage Data Centers $1.6 billion investment.

Apr 23, 2026 · IT Brief Asia

MacPaw survey finds green concerns may drive file cleanups

MacPaw released an Earth Day report on how Mac users manage digital clutter and cloud storage.

Survey details & headline findings: The report surveyed 1,000 Mac users in the US and found 71.7% of cloud-using respondents said they would clean out old files more often if they understood the environmental cost, 84.3% said that information would help decide what to keep or delete, 96.1% store files in the cloud at least sometimes, and 31.1% said they would clean much more often if they knew more about the impact.
Context, energy figures, and behavior data: The report links habits to energy use, stating storing 1 TB in the cloud for a year uses roughly 40-70 kWh, and notes global data centres consume hundreds of terawatt-hours annually; it also reports emotional and behavioural metrics such as 61.1% feeling stressed when storage runs low, 81% feeling relief after cleanup, 39.2% keeping files because they “might need them someday,” and 29% fearing deletion of important files. MacPaw (founded in Kyiv, with offices in Boston and the EU) is best known for the CleanMyMac product.

Apr 22, 2026

GE Vernova reports first quarter 2026 financial results and raises 2026 guidance

GE Vernova has reported first quarter 2026 financial results and is raising its 2026 guidance.

Reported action: GE Vernova reported Q1 2026 results and raised 2026 guidance, stating backlog grew by more than $13 billion quarter‑over‑quarter to $163 billion (inclusive of Prolec GE); the company booked $2.4 billion in Electrification equipment orders to support data centers, completed acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Prolec GE, and reported a $10.2 billion cash balance. Also expects to reach at least 110 GW of combined gas turbine backlog and slot reservation agreements by year‑end 2026.
Background and event details: The announcement is a company press release (April 22, 2026) and includes a webcast/investor conference call.
- Conference call: April 22, 2026, starting at 7:30 AM Eastern Time, webcast from GE Vernova investor website; archived webcast and slide presentation will be available after the call.
- Additional facts: Disclosure includes forward‑looking cautionary language, links to investor reports/filings, and contact details for investor and media inquiries.

Apr 14, 2026

Human-machine teaming dives underwater

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is seeking external sponsorship to refine and transition an AUV-diver human-robot teaming system developed by its Advanced Undersea Systems and Technology Group.

Main announcement: The internally funded project led by principal investigator Madeline Miller has developed AUV navigation and perception algorithms (integrated from work by the MIT Marine Robotics Group led by John Leonard), a COTS sensor payload (sonar, optical sensors, an acoustic modem, pressure/depth sensor, IMU, and compute boards) and a diver-worn prototype

Apr 11, 2026

AI Data Centers Air Pollution Deaths: How Tech Boom is Killing Clean Air in US

The Trump administration announced it rolled back federal soot standards in February 2026, citing surging electricity demand from AI data centers.

Main action: The administration reversed Biden-era soot protections and the President invoked emergency wartime powers to compel utilities to keep aging coal-fired power plants operating; the rollback was explicitly justified by surging electricity demand from AI data centers. Key figures: 4,000 data centers operational, 3,000 planned or under construction, and AI data center electricity share rising from 2% (2018) to 4.4% (2023) with projections of 6.7%–12% by 2028 and potential 11x increase by 2030 if unchecked.
Background and details:University of California, Riverside researchers project up to 1,300 premature deaths annually by 2030 tied to particulate pollution from extended fossil-fuel plant operation; Harvard University provided data-center counts; regional specifics include AI centers using 26% of Virginia’s electricity, proposed Nevada data centers requiring three times current Las Vegas electricity, and 70+ data centers in Los Angeles County where supervisors are considering a moratorium and a health impact assessment. Also noted: Clean Wisconsin projections and more than 60 Virginia state bills addressing data center growth and grid impact.

Apr 10, 2026

As Trump throws lifeline to coal plants, critics warn of higher costs and health risks

The Trump administration has used emergency powers to prevent scheduled coal plant retirements and to fund upgrades that keep plants operating.

Main action: The administration issued emergency orders to keep at least five coal plants from closing, spent $175 million on upgrades for seven plants, is considering $350 million more in applications, and officials (e.g., Interior Secretary Doug Burgum) have articulated a goal of “100 per cent stay open, no more retirements”, citing grid reliability concerns. The administration also used measures that delayed the planned retirement of the Schahfer Generating Station in Indiana and justified keeping it online for extreme weather power needs.
Background and details: The piece references analysis by Enverus that suggested no additional coal retirements may occur during the administration; it notes 34 GW of coal capacity was set to retire before 2029, coal plants slated to retire emitted >130 million tons CO2 last year, and that keeping the fleet afloat could cost about $1 billion annually. Legal challenges have been filed by multiple states (Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado).

Apr 9, 2026

NFPA’s comprehensive battery safety code nears finish line

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is finalizing NFPA 800, a provisional, full-lifecycle battery safety standard expected to be published later this month following an expedited development process.

Main action: NFPA is proposing NFPA 800 as a provisional standard (valid for two years) after an expedited process; the NFPA Standards Council is expected to vote likely on April 14 or 15. The draft includes energy-level thresholds and maximum allowable quantities (MAQs) that vary by occupancy (examples: healthcare — 2 kWh threshold / 20 kWh MAQ; warehouses & closed parking — 20 kWh threshold / 600 kWh MAQ; open parking — 1,000 kWh MAQ).
Background and details: The standard aims to harmonize NFPA 855 with other codes and guidance into a single battery safety “road map” for manufacturing, transportation, operation/maintenance, emergency response, reuse/recycling, and disposal; if approved provisionally, NFPA 800 will immediately enter NFPA’s normal 3–5 year standards-development cycle. The process was fast-tracked (only the third expedited standard in NFPA’s 175-year history) to respond to urgent safety concerns following incidents such as the Moss Landing fire and recent jurisdictional code updates (e.g., New York City / FDNY guidance).

Apr 8, 2026

ICYMI: Mission First, AI Forward

Dell Technologies announced initiatives to help federal agencies, research institutions, and communities move AI from pilot to production by supplying mission-ready infrastructure, partnerships, and secure solutions.

Main announcement: Dell is partnering with U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Navy / Naval Postgraduate School, NVIDIA, and research centers to deliver mission-ready AI infrastructure, including the delivery of Cech — a Dell-powered early-access system for NERSC ahead of full deployment later this year, shipment of a desktop with NVIDIA GB300 technology, and co-engineering an air-gapped solution for classified environments. Michael Dell’s participation in the Dell Federal Symposium and his appointment to PCAST were highlighted as part of federal engagement.
Background and other details: Activities span events and programs: Dell Federal Symposium (Washington, D.C.) promoting practical, secure AI; NVIDIA GTC debut of GB300 desktop and air-gapped solution; RSA 2026 announcements on quantum-ready security; community efforts include TCU university AI environment, a United Way Institute launch in North Texas with an AI Day of Learning on April 20 (North Texas), and a Power Up Philly AI Discovery Zone at Temple University. External recognitions cited include Ethisphere, Forbes, Fast Company, and Nextgov/FCW.

Apr 7, 2026

Helping data centers deliver higher performance with less hardware

MIT researchers have developed Sandook, a software system to boost performance and utilization of pooled SSDs in data centers.

Main announcement:Sandook is a two-tier, software-only system (a global controller + local SSD controllers) that simultaneously addresses three sources of SSD variability—device wear/age, read-write interference, and garbage collection—and was tested on a pool of 10 SSDs, improving application throughput by 12–94%, increasing SSD capacity utilization by 23%, and enabling SSDs to reach 95% of theoretical maximum performance. The work will be presented at the USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation.
Background & details: Sandook rotates read/write assignments, profiles SSD performance to detect garbage collection and reduce load on affected drives, requires no specialized hardware or application changes, and was evaluated on four tasks (database, machine-learning model training, image compression, user data storage). Authors include Gohar Chaudhry (lead author), Ankit Bhardwaj (Tufts University), Zhenyuan Ruan PhD ’24, and Adam Belay (MIT CSAIL). Funding came from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

Apr 3, 2026

Quantum Progress Runs Through the Data Center – AWS Shows Why

AWS and research partners demonstrated a 97-qubit, distance-7 rotated surface code simulation on Amazon EC2 using a hardware-calibrated digital twin for quantum error correction.

Main announcement: AWS, Quantum Elements, the University of Southern California, and Harvard University simulated a distance-7 rotated surface code (97 physical qubits) and a full syndrome-extraction cycle on classical cloud HPC; the run completed in approximately one hour on a single EC2 Hpc7a instance using 96 vCPUs.
Background and details: The work uses a hardware-calibrated digital twin and a real-time quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method to retain coherent and correlated noise effects; researchers say this produces realistic syndrome data for decoder training and system co-design, and future work will add more detailed error models to improve decoders and system performance.

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