Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.
Data centers were a major bipartisan issue ahead of the 2026 midterms, and voters largely opposed data center expansion at the polls. Tech giants like OpenAI and Amazon are promising to work more closely with local communities and cover their data center energy costs. But following the election, Democratic leaders are calling for further data center restrictions and slowdowns that the AI companies will have to grapple with.
From audacious plans about data centers into space, heated local battles over buildouts, and potential environmental impacts, here’s The Verge’s news, coverage, and reporting surrounding data centers and the companies that are building them.
Lame-duck Congress might actually do something: speed up energy projects
“We are a data center first company,” AMD CEO Lisa Su says.
OpenAI is stepping back from NDAs for data center projects
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Data centers lost the midterms
Maine Republican Susan Collins concedes Senate seat in a tech-fueled race.
Democrat projected to win Ohio seat that Republicans warned could spell trouble for data centers.
Data center-dense Texas turns blue.
OpenAI is quietly renaming data centers ‘compute campuses’
OpenAI pitches data center power plants as a way to protect nearby areas
Could data center backlash flip Florida?
Prop 45 in California could be hiding a loophole for data centers
Maine’s data center revolt will decide who controls the Senate
Data centers could send US climate pollution skyrocketing
AI has come for Arizona’s water
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Voters in Texas agree: They hate data centers
Highway robbers are targeting trucks carrying data center components.
Data center backlash is uniting America
Anthropic is burning gas to feed the AI boom
It’s a good time to sell gray paint.
Data centers could erase decades of air quality gains
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Trump says paying communities a “dividend” could make data centers more popular.
Texas is still permitting data centers despite a supposed statewide moratorium.
The fossil fuel comeback is here
Microsoft abandons the UK’s largest data center project.
Amazon is funding a new nuclear plant in Indiana
You’ve got to hear both sides?
Neocloud CoreWeave’s bonds are distressed, and so am I.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
A bipartisan bill aims to hold data centers accountable for their energy use.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Google’s power-hungry data centers crave nuclear energy
A Japanese real estate company is building a data center in an underground tunnel.
If a data center is camouflaged in the woods, will anyone hate it?
Amazon writes scary blog warning communities not to block data centers
The People of Utah vs. Kevin O’Leary
South Park has a data center infestation.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Trump: “You’re going to see — data centers are going to be very popular.”
Google is sending an AI satellite into space next week
Data centers are black boxes, but California wants to change that
Americans sour even more on data centers.
California tightens rules on AI data center energy and water use
Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centers
The AI data center e-waste problem is huge — and getting bigger
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
AI and data centers are incredibly unpopular in every poll
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Is this the future of America?
A Microsoft-backed data center has reportedly been running on unpermitted generators.
Trump’s EPA wants to let data centers hide their air pollution
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Now OpenAI’s former head of data centers is out.
There’s a surge of new gas projects being built to power data centers in the US.
The latest turn in the data center debate.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion to support an OpenAI data center.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country
The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
AMD’s data center business is booming while gaming takes a backseat
At least 37 people have reportedly been arrested for protesting data centers.
Texas says data centers must pass an audit before connecting to the grid
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Willie Nelson is pushing back against data centers in his hometown.
Meta and BlackRock are building a data center campus together.
The right-wing boomers protesting data centers have a lot in common with the left
Utility companies promise to spare us from AI’s energy bill
Meta reportedly considers leasing computing power to Anthropic.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
AI’s power bill is here.
New York becomes the first state to enact a data center moratorium
The fight against AI data centers is just beginning
Would you host part of an AI data center in your home?
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Anthropic signs 20-year lease agreement for an AI data center in Kentucky.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Meta might launch its own cloud computing business.
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Nvidia says its AI data center design runs hotter to use a lot less water
Amazon employees say they’re facing termination for backing data center limits
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
xAI’s gas-powered data center is necessary for national security, DOJ argues.
SpaceX reportedly rented out Colossus 1 AI data center after it ran into latency issues.
Amazon’s data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
GM thinks EVs can help offset AI’s energy suck with vehicle-to-grid tech
Amazon employees ask Seattle to put the brakes on new data centers
The mayor of Shelbyville, Indiana, says only people who live in ‘shitty houses’ oppose data center
New York lawmakers pass one-year ban on new data centers
Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
AI has a water problem — Google thinks it has a fix
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Erin Brockovich created a map of data centers in the US.
Anthropic is paying $15 billion a year for access to Elon Musk’s data centers
What’s your score on the WSJ’s data center quiz?
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah
Use this map to find the data centers in your backyard
Americans do not want AI data centers in their backyards
This week in the big AI data center buildout.
Data centers are coming for rural America
Google may work with SpaceX to launch data centers into space.
43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills.
A 40,000-acre data center project was just approved in Utah, despite outcry from the community.
A political battleground is forming around data centers.
Are AI data centers coming to your area?
Data centers will soon have to complete “mandatory” energy usage surveys.
“A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health.”
Iran threatens OpenAI’s Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi
Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
Arm’s first CPU ever will plug into Meta’s AI data centers later this year
Lake Tahoe has to look for a new power source as data center demand soars.
How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers
Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply
Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricity costs
How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project
Microsoft wants to rewire data centers to save space
New York is considering two bills to rein in the AI industry
Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says
It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers
Microsoft gets approval to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
Meta is spending millions to convince people that data centers are cool and you like them
The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers
Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage
ICE hits Meta data center project.
Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
Microsoft scrambles to quell fury around its new AI data centers
Data center projects are dropping like flies.
That’s a lot of money for just one data center job.
Alphabet is acquiring a data center company.
Communities are rising up against data centers — and winning
Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers’ impact on electricity costs
Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space
AI’s water and electricity use soars in 2025
Racks of AI chips are too damn heavy
The scramble to launch data centers into space is heating up
Data center construction moratorium is gaining steam
Satya Nadella acknowledged that data centers are “putting a lot of pressure” on power grids.
The largest power grid system in the US is considering rolling blackouts because of energy-hungry data centers.
Data centers in Oregon might be helping to drive an increase in cancer and miscarriages
Nvidia says some AI GPUs are ‘sold out,’ grows data center business by $10B in just three months
Data centers are already influencing the global forecast for clean energy.
Anthropic will invest $50 billion in building AI data centers in the US
Google has a ‘moonshot’ plan for AI data centers in space
Google is turning on the gas for its data centers
Why data centers are building their own power plants
Electricity costs are up to 267 percent higher than they used to be in communities near data centers.
Microsoft says this new cooling method could enable more powerful chips and efficient data centers
OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new AI data centers as part of Stargate.
Microsoft is turning Foxconn’s empty buildings into the ‘world’s most powerful’ AI data center
Nvidia invests $5 billion into Intel to jointly develop PC and data center chips
Tech companies ‘be on alert,’ NAACP says with new guiding principles for data centers
Meta faces Democratic probe into plans to power a giant data center with gas
Amazon is investing billions more into its Mississippi data centers.
Mark Zuckerberg wants you to know he has a big AI data center, too
Bill Gates’ nuclear energy startup inks new data center deal
OpenAI and SoftBank are starting a $500 billion AI data center company
CBS News reports OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank will announce a “Stargate” AI data center project.
Joe Biden signs executive order to speed AI data center construction
Go read this report on Arizona data centers and those without power in the state.
Google’s future data centers will be built next to solar and wind farms
Meta is putting a $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana.
xAI competitors are flying spy planes over the ‘Colossus’ data center.
New AI data centers could raise Americans’ electricity bills.
Some Memphis residents are pissed about xAI’s new data center.
Can Meta clean up its data centers with geothermal energy?
xAI faces accusations its data center is polluting the air.
This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down
Google plans to reuse heat after expanding a data center for AI
AI and crypto mining are driving up data centers’ energy use
Google’s new geothermal energy project is up and running
The environmental impact of the AI revolution is starting to come into focus
How data centers at public pools can keep swimmers warm
Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers?
