Tennessee Data Center Intel

Recent Tennessee data center news

• Jul 10, 2026

  FLOPS vs Megawatts: Who’s Winning in 2026 Supercomputing?

  The article provides analysis and commentary on 2026 supercomputing buildouts, contrasting public exascale systems with hyperscaler AI campuses. It is not a first-time announcement by one entity, but a roundup of recent developments and milestones.

  • The piece compares public TOP500 systems and private hyperscaler AI campuses, highlighting that private builds are measured in hundreds of megawatts to gigawatts rather than HPL scores.
  • It cites several recent milestones, including Microsoft’s Wisconsin Fairwater campus, xAI’s Colossus 2, OpenAI and Oracle’s Stargate, and Meta’s Prometheus nuclear power agreements.
  • It also notes Alice Recoque installation in France under a €354.8 million EuroHPC JU contract with Eviden and mentions the next TOP500 list at SC26 in November.
• Jul 8, 2026

  Honda-LG ES begin ESS cell production at retooled Ohio EV cell facility

  L-H Battery Company has announced the commencement of lithium-ion cell production at its Jeffersonville, Ohio plant, shifting initial output from EV cells to stationary energy storage system applications.

  • Production began this month at the Jeffersonville, Ohio facility after a construction and workforce development effort that started when the JV was established in 2023.
  • The plant was originally conceived for EV cells but is now focused on ESS applications; LG ES Vertech will integrate the first cells into complete ESS solutions, and the company says the batteries will serve residential, commercial and industrial, and utility grid markets.
  • Local reporting had claimed the plant would make batteries for AI data centre-specific ESS solutions; Caroline Ramsey said that was “just not accurate.”
  • The article also places the announcement in the context of broader US battery manufacturing shifts, including Panasonic, LG ES, Ultium Cells, Samsung SDI, SK On, Ford Energy, and Peak Energy.
• Jul 8, 2026

  SpaceXAI wants to compete on AI infrastructure, not just AI models

  SpaceXAI has announced a new unified company strategy combining SpaceX and xAI to pursue orbital AI infrastructure.

  • The company said it will combine Grok models, Colossus GPU clusters, Starlink networks, and SpaceX launch capabilities to build data centers in space powered by solar energy.
  • It said it will deploy AI compute satellites as early as 2028 and begin work on the 11-million-square-foot Gigasat factory as soon as late 2027; the article also cites $55 billion for that factory investment.
  • The article references prior disclosures that SpaceX spent $12.7 billion on AI in 2025 and that Anthropic and Google signed access deals worth $1.25 billion per month and $920 million per month respectively for Colossus.
• Jul 7, 2026

  Streamlining ARM data access with AI-ready infrastructure

  The U.S. Department of Energy’s ARM User Facility has announced ongoing upgrades to the ARM Data Center to support AI-ready scientific workflows.

  • ARM is adding GPUs, replacing its file server with an AI-ready storage platform, and expanding cybersecurity/network controls to support data access and AI tools.
  • The facility plans to add 25 to 30 new GPUs over the next two to five years and 2 to 3 petabytes of storage for vectorized content over the next three years; ADA is expected in July 2026.
  • The article also describes ATLAS, a shared platform for model inference, semantic representation, workflow coordination, and secure access, tied to DOE’s American Science Cloud and Genesis Mission.
• Jul 7, 2026

  Sphere 3D enters 30MW co-mining agreements with Bitdeer

  Sphere 3D has announced new co-mining agreements with Bitdeer Technologies Group for 30MW of capacity across three data center sites in Tennessee and Kentucky.

  • Bitdeer will deploy Sealminer A2 Pro Air hardware at Sphere 3D’s sites, with the two companies sharing net mining proceeds under separate agreements.
  • Each agreement has an initial one-year term and may be renewed for one additional year; financial terms were not disclosed. Sphere 3D said the move lets it use available power capacity while evaluating AI and HPC opportunities. The company also said it closed its business combination with Cathedra Bitcoin in June 2026, engaged EA Advisors in June, and plans to rename itself DarkHorse Technologies Inc. subject to shareholder approval.
• Jul 7, 2026

  Modeling framework reveals grid battery aging effects

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory has announced research using high performance computing and physics-based modeling to analyze battery aging and improve the design of megawatt-hour grid storage systems.

  • ORNL researchers are coupling HPC with a physics-based modeling framework to evaluate how operating strategies affect battery aging over 500-1,000 cycles, with results in days instead of weeks.
  • The model scales from cell-level to module- and pack-level performance, simulates more than 10,000 cells at once, and is intended to optimize electrical architecture, control strategies, and operating schedules; the work was funded by DOE’s Office of Electricity and supports the Genesis Mission.
  • The research found different degradation pathways for frequency regulation versus energy-cost reduction use cases, and noted that low-voltage systems showed more aging variation than high-voltage systems.
  • The team received a Best Paper Award at the IEEE Electrical Energy Storage Application and Technologies Conference earlier this year for the work describing the project.
• Jul 6, 2026

  Aalo Atomics’ Test Reactor Reaches Criticality at INL, Fourth DOE-Authorized Advanced Reactor by July 4

  Aalo Atomics has announced that its Aalo-X Critical Test Reactor (CTR), dubbed Project First Light, reached criticality at Idaho National Laboratory on July 4, making it the fourth DOE-authorized advanced reactor to achieve criticality in the recent federal reactor testing push.

  • DOE said Aalo’s test reactor successfully completed a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration at INL under the Reactor Pilot Program; Aalo told POWER the CTR reached criticality at 12:20 a.m. MT on July 4.
  • Aalo CEO Matt Loszak said criticality paves the way for the Aalo Pod to power commercial data centers after NRC authorization; Aalo said the 10 MWe Aalo-X design supports construction and licensing in 2027 and operations/safety demonstrations in 2028.
  • The article also says Aalo has begun work on Project Ascension, a second reactor on the INL campus, with excavation and earthwork completed and first concrete being prepared; Aalo expects to finish it by end-2026 and make commercial-scale electricity in 2027.
• Jul 1, 2026

  Six insights into the success of the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory is highlighting the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility’s collaboration model and workforce development approach.

  • MDF is presented as a nationwide innovation hub for advanced manufacturing, using collocation, CRADAs, and hands-on collaboration with industry, entrepreneurs, startups, universities, and government partners.
  • The article says MDF has operated since 2012, grown from fewer than ten staff to more than 200, and supported more than 10,000 students through America’s Cutting Edge (ACE); it also references Beehive Industries opening a 60,000-square-foot facility in Knox County in 2024 as an example of successful technology transfer.
• Jul 1, 2026

  Omen AI raises $31m to develop fluid monitoring system for data centers

  Omen AI has announced the closing of a $31 million Series A round led by Nava Ventures to develop its fluid-analysis sensors and monitoring systems for data centers and industrial machines.

  • Main announcement: Omen AI closed a $31 million Series A led by Nava Ventures, bringing total funding to $41.5 million since its 2024 founding; the company develops permanent and portable fluid-analysis sensors that monitor coolant/oil/water health in real time for servers and industrial equipment.
  • Background/details: Investors include Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Mattacola (neocloud CoreWeave), CRV, Vanderbilt University, LMNT Ventures, Mann+Hummel, Borusan Ventures, Starhill Holdings, Hard Launch Capital, and executives from Bridgestone, GM, Johnson Controls, and TensorWave; the company says it already monitors coolant health for operators representing $200 billion in assets and 10GW–14GW of capacity.
• Jun 29, 2026

  30MW cryptomine proposed in Starkville, Mississippi

  An unnamed firm has proposed a cryptocurrency mining facility in Starkville, Mississippi.

  • Project details: The proposal is for a facility adjacent to an electrical substation on Industrial Park Road, with a potential load of up to 30MW; the plan is in early review and city officials say it could be several months before another update. The same company is reportedly seeking additional sites in Tennessee for much larger hyperscale centers “five to ten-fold, and maybe even 20-plus-times larger.”
  • Local response and technical points:Starkville Utilities director Edward Kemp said the steady 30MW load could be favorable for the city-owned utility and help offset future rate increases; the company has committed to follow local noise ordinances, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill described a visited mining site as “surprisingly quiet” and “mostly innocuous,” and a Change.org petition (launched June 18) cites concerns including up to 30MW demand and 20,000 gallons of water usage (petition had 11 verified signatures as of publication).