Rhode Island Data Center News

Jun 1, 2026 · Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Targeted Pressure: How Chinese Manufacturing Competition Impacts US States

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has published a report finding Chinese industrial policy is reshaping global manufacturing and harming industries across every U.S. state.

Main finding & method: The ITIF report (June 1, 2026) analyzes one “national power industry” per state using County Business Patterns employment data, HS/SITC export proxies, and global market-share series to conclude that state-backed Chinese subsidies, export pushes, and overcapacity are driving down prices and pressuring U.S. producers in sectors such as semiconductors, batteries, aircraft, and fabricated metals.
Key facts, numbers, and timelines:China plans ~$150 billion in semiconductor investment through 2030 vs. $52 billion under the U.S. CHIPS funding; the report cites $63.3 billion Chinese semiconductor spending in H1 2025, TSMC’s $165 billion U.S. investment announcement, GE Appliances’ $490 million Appliance Park investment (2025), and state/national export shares and HS-code trade series used throughout the analyses.

May 14, 2026

Socorro County Officials in New Mexico Agree to Vote on Data Center Moratorium

Socorro County officials unanimously agreed to vote on a data center moratorium.

Main action: Socorro County officials agreed to vote on a data center moratorium (vote modified to take place before public comments); the procedural vote occurred on May 12, 2026, following community backlash to Green Data CEO Jason Bak‘s March proposal to build a 10,000-acre data center. More than 1,200 residents of the county signed a local petition opposing the project and an additional online petition by Val Thomas has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.
Background and related details: Nearby Doña Ana County approved a hyperscale data center in a closed-door meeting last year with a reported $165 billion price tag; OpenAI and Oracle publicly committed to that project, while questions about funding and water usage remain and prompted a transparency lawsuit by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.

Apr 29, 2026

Experts Warn Lagging IT And Communications Technology Threatens U.S. Security

Lawmakers and industry experts warned Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security must modernize its information technology and communications systems to address growing cyber and physical threats to critical infrastructure.

Main announcement/action: At a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on April 29, 2026, witnesses urged DHS to modernize IT and communications systems and to formally recognize data centers and communications networks as critical infrastructure requiring coordinated federal oversight. They called for strengthened supply chain security, expanded information sharing, and closer government-industry collaboration; witnesses highlighted workforce reductions (including significant cuts at CISA) as limiting federal response capacity.
Background and details: The hearing cited the China-linked “Salt Typhoon” espionage campaign — said to have compromised telecommunications providers in more than 80 countries and collected more than 1 million American call records — as evidence of escalating threats. Key witnesses included Mark Montgomery (Foundation for Defense of Democracies), Robert Mayer (USTelecom), Scott Algeier (IT-ISAC), and Sam Visner (Space ISAC). Lawmakers also raised concerns about the continued sale of advanced semiconductor technology to China and the resulting supply chain exposure.

Apr 22, 2026

Patented: Verizon’s Signal Spoof Detection at Base Stations and More North Texas Inventive Activity

Dallas-Fort Worth reported 171 patents granted for the week of March 24 and Verizon was granted a patent for detecting GPS/satellite signal spoofing at cellular base stations.

Main announcement: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (19100) 171 patents granted for the week of March 24, ranked No. 8 out of 250 U.S. metros; notable individual patent: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc. (U.S. Patent No. 12587857) for signal spoof detection at base stations using a comparison of a station’s known “true position” with a calculated “real time position” and generating an alert when the distance exceeds a threshold. Named inventors on the Verizon patent are Jerry Gamble, Jr. (Grapevine, TX) and Sumanth S. Mallya (Flower Mound, TX).
Background/details: The article is a patent roundup (Dallas Invents) listing utility and design patents connected to North Texas; it enumerates classification counts (G: Physics 53; H: Electricity 49; DESIGN: 31, etc.), top assignees (e.g., Texas Instruments Inc. 17; Traxxas L.P. 17; Samsung 8; Verizon 6) and highlights many granted patents across domains (telecom, AI/ML, medical devices, robotics, energy, networking). For each patent the report includes patent number, inventor(s), assignee, application file/date, and abstract (no speculative outcomes).

Apr 6, 2026

Two New England states say no to new data centers

The Maine legislature has proposed a moratorium pausing new data center projects of 20 megawatts or more until November 2027 while the state studies environmental and electric grid impacts.

Main action: The proposed law would pause new projects of 20 megawatts or more until November 2027; the bill passed the Maine House with bipartisan support, is expected to clear the Senate, and Gov. Janet Mills reportedly backs the moratorium while supporting an exception for one planned project in Jay, Maine.
Background and related actions:Smithfield, Rhode Island (Town Council/Planning Board) is preparing a local ban with a two-year review requiring developers to request a use variance; at least 11 states have introduced temporary data center moratorium bills this session, and data centers are cited as consuming 183 TWh in 2024 (projected to 426 TWh by 2030) with examples such as data centers using ~26% of Virginia’s 2023 electricity supply.

Mar 26, 2026

Arm shifts course, moves into silicon business

Arm has announced it will expand into production silicon and launched the Arm AGI CPU with Meta as lead partner and first customer.

Main announcement: Arm is entering production silicon with the new Arm AGI CPU, positioned as a CPU purpose-built for agentic AI data centers, co-developed with Meta; the chip is designed by Ampere and will be manufactured by TSMC on a 3-nanometer process node. Key product specs announced include up to 136 Arm Neoverse V3 cores per CPU, 6GB/s memory bandwidth per core at sub-100ns latency, 300W TDP, claims of >2x performance per rack versus x86, support for 1U air-cooled deployments up to 8,160 cores per rack and liquid-cooled systems delivering 45,000+ cores per rack. Early systems are available now, with broader availability expected in the second half of the year.
Background and partners: The chip was designed and manufactured by Ampere (acquired by SoftBank for $6.5 billion last year). Arm confirmed additional commercial momentum with partners/customers including Cerebras, Cloudflare, F5, OpenAI, Positron, Rebellions, SAP, and SK Telecom, and is working with OEM/ODM partners ASRock Rack, Lenovo, Quanta Computer, and Supermicro for system deliveries. Independent analyst commentary (Jim McGregor, Tirias Research) raised questions about benchmark comparators and emphasized the AGI CPU is targeted at AI/accelerator orchestration rather than general-purpose enterprise CPU use.

Mar 16, 2026

Palantir partners with Nvidia to streamline AI data center deployment

Palantir Technologies and Nvidia have announced the Palantir AI OS Reference Architecture (AIOS-RA).

Main announcement: The AIOS-RA is an end-to-end reference architecture and operating system designed to support processes from hardware acquisition to application deployment, running both training and inference on Nvidia Blackwell Ultra systems (each system incorporates eight Blackwell Ultra GPUs and Spectrum-X Ethernet networking). It is built on a hardened Kubernetes substrate and integrates Palantir’s software suite (AIP, Foundry, Apollo, Rubix, AIP Hub) to serve as a blueprint for designing, deploying, and scaling high-performance on-premises, edge, and sovereign cloud AI factories.
Additional details / background: Management and security are handled via Palantir Rubix (zero-trust Kubernetes security) and Apollo (autonomous deployment and lifecycle oversight). The collaboration also includes Nvidia’s stack (Nvidia AI Enterprise, CUDA-X Libraries, Nemotron open models, Magnum IO) and targets customers with existing GPU infrastructure, latency-sensitive workflows, data sovereignty requirements, and high geographic distribution.

Mar 11, 2026

Datalec targets rapid infrastructure deployment with new modular data centers

Datalec Precision Installations has launched a next-generation Data Centre Modularization Solution to enable faster, more flexible deployment of data centre capacity for colocation providers, hyperscale and AI infrastructure teams.

Main announcement: Datalec launched a next-generation Data Centre Modularization Solution that shortens typical deployment timelines (company states a full build can fall from about 16 months to 10 months, and the design phase from 6 months to 2 months). Modules are engineered and manufactured through Datatec’s integrated production process, with a larger share of work done offsite to reduce onsite construction time and disruption.
Background and details: The solution targets standard server to AI/high-density compute use cases and offers bolt-on services including a digital wrapper (digital twinning, lifecycle and global support). Datalec manufactures specialized elements (cabinets, ceilings), provides design development and consulting, and competes with vendors such as Schneider Electric, Vertiv, and Flex.

Mar 11, 2026

Study finds significant savings from direct current power for AI workloads

Enteligent published a study promoting 800V DC for AI data centers and said it is conducting NDA-level tests and pilots of an 800V-to-50V converter with a formal product announcement planned within the next few weeks.

Study findings and claimed savings:50%–80% reduction in copper usage, 8%–12% reduction in annual energy-related OpEx, and $4 million–$8 million CapEx savings per 10 MW build for AI-first facilities; Enteligent positions 800VDC as enabling fewer conductors, lower current/heat, and simpler distribution.
Product and deployment details / timeline: CEO Sean Burke says Enteligent’s unreleased converter will partition 800V DC to 50V for servers; the company is at NDA testing and pilot programs now and plans a formal announcement within the next few weeks; Burke recommends greenfield all-DC builds and selective all-DC retrofits for high-power GPU deployments. Competitors noted include Vertiv, Rutherford, Siemens, and Eaton.

Feb 11, 2026

Climate Change Solutions - February 10, 2026

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) published a newsletter highlighting climate risks to winter sports, related policy updates, and upcoming briefings and events.

Main announcement: EESI released coverage on climate impacts to winter sports at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo, citing over $1 billion in losses in the United States and the closure of 265 ski resorts in Italy; the newsletter links to a feature article, a 30-minute podcast with sport ecologist Madeleine Orr, and an archival piece on ice rink refrigerant emissions (mitigation strategies and policy). It also promotes EESI articles on data center water use and a recorded briefing on grid optimization and energy efficiency.
Legislative and events details: The newsletter summarizes congressional activity and announces upcoming briefings and dates:
- Legislation: reintroduction/advancement of H.R.1355 (Weatherization Enhancement and Readiness Act), H.R.3474 (Federal Mechanical Insulation Act) reported to the House floor, S.688 (FISH Act of 2025) advanced in Senate, companion H.R.3756, and introduction of H.R.7257 (SECURE Grid Act).
- Events (dates/times/locations/subject):
  - Feb 20, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. (online): “Frozen Infrastructure: Winter Storm Impacts on Communities and the Power Grid” — rapid readout on Winter Storm Fern impacts and recovery pathways.
  - Feb 26, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building Gold Room (Room 2168) & online: “Understanding Load Growth and Energy Affordability” — factbook findings in partnership with BCSE (data center energy demand discussed).
  - Mar 3, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Russell Senate Office Building Room 385 & online (reception to follow): “Igniting Innovation: Progress and a Path Forward for Wildfire Policy” — solutions and federal policy strategies (costs cited: up to $424 billion annually to the U.S.).
  - Mar 12, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building Gold Room (Room 2168) & online: “Strategies to Lower Utility Bills Now for Households and Small Businesses.”

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