04/27/2025 What I Read Last Week
#DigitalInfrastructure news: Sabey Data Centers, AWS, Quantum Computing, Gigawatt Scale, Exowatt, Data Center World
Weekly Edition of curated news about Digital Infrastructure
[Link] Here is a nice summary article in the Business Record about the growth of data centers in Iowa. The growth of data centers in Iowa has been significant since the late 2000s, with major tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Meta investing billions of dollars and acquiring thousands of acres to build millions of square feet of data center space. These facilities have diversified Iowa’s economy, spurred infrastructure improvements, created jobs, and attracted additional tech-related development.
[Link] xAI said to be in talks to raise $20 billion. The funds could help manage debt acquired when Musk took Twitter private and rebranded it as X.
[Link] Sabey Data Centers announced new capacity coming online at two of its Washington state campuses. Seattle will see 6 MW of tier-3 type critical power come online, and East Wenatchee, Washington will see 5.5MW of tier-3 type critical power become available.
[Link] Digital Realty is an enormous digital infrastructure company. Some numbers that stood out to me from their 1Q25 financial results released recently were about the power footprint. ~2,760MW in place IT capacity, ~3,500 MW buildable IT capacity, and 814 MW under construction. Wow!
[Link] Amazon Web Services is expanding its data center footprint into Maryland, and is set to take space in TPG’s Quantum Frederick Park. Plans include a 4-building site, with more than 250 MW of power.
[Link] IonQ announced the joint development of a new quantum innovation center with EPB of Chattanooga, a leading energy and communications company. This strategic partnership will further establish Chattanooga as the catalyst in Tennessee's emergence as the national hub for quantum innovation. The addition of an IonQ quantum computer in the EPB Quantum Center adds to IonQ’s growing global footprint, with quantum systems in Basel, Switzerland, and Rome, NY, and IonQ data centers in Maryland, Washington state, and Switzerland.
[Link] PLDT has announced plans to build its 12th data center in the Philippines, marking a significant expansion of its infrastructure. The company also launched the country's first AI-ready hyperscale data center, designed to support advanced artificial intelligence workloads and large-scale digital services.
[Link] India’s Adani Group plans a $10B data center expansion, betting on local demand even as Microsoft and AWS reassess their data center plans amid economic uncertainty. The company has identified the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu as possible destinations for setting up two data centers with a capacity of 1 GW each.
[Link] UK power generation firm Frontier Power has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Ethos Green Energy, which could see the development of 5GW of data center capacity colocated with solar and long-duration battery energy storage (LDES) across the UK market.
[Link] Renewable energy technology startup Exowatt announced that it has raised $70 million in a Series A funding round, with proceeds aimed at supporting the development and production of its modular solar energy system, which can supply power 24 hours a day. The company has seen a lot of data center demand recently. The Exowatt P3 system is tailored to meet the surging power needs of data centers, with demand projected to increase by 150% by 2030. The system can deliver up to 24 hours of dispatchable power daily and can be deployed off-grid.
[Link] Electricity demand across the Texas market is set to rise to up to 218GW by 2031, according to the latest estimate from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's grid operator.
[Link] BigBear.ai powers Austal USA’s next-gen submarine construction using AI and Digital Twins. A key phrase I watch out for on Google is “Digital Twin”. I just really like the concept and enjoy seeing how people are implementing it. Last week, BigBear.ai, an AI-powered decision intelligence solutions provider, announced it will deploy its AI/ML-powered heavy manufacturing planning and production platform for Austal USA, one of the largest shipbuilders in the United States, and a module supplier for U.S. Navy submarines.
Data Center World 2025
Youtube video of an interview with Bill Kleyman, AFCOM Data Center World Program Chair, and CEO at Apolo.us.
Bill Kleyman’s post about talking with Kevin O'Leary
Coming this fall - Data Center World POWER, in San Antonio, Texas. Hey Gemini - add this to my calendar, please.
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