From 38 data center-related ballot measures passed in the U.S. midterm elections and Google’s $15 billion Malaysian expansion to Lambda’s $33.1 billion Alabama campus and record energy deals, it’s been another packed stretch for the sector. Plus, Plus, data hall walls built to soak up server heat? Here’s a roundup of the latest data center developments.
Policy and Regulation: Midterm Backlash, Renewable Mandates
The historic U.S. midterm elections became a battleground and litmus test for the data center industry. Across the country, voters approved local bans, caps, and moratoria. At least 38 ballot measures limiting data centers passed, according to an analysis by Redbud Consulting cited by CBS News. Ohio led with at least 14 restrictions, including outright bans in several municipalities, while El Dorado, Kansas, approved a 10-year ban on high-impact data centers. NBC exit polls found 56% of voters called AI data centers a crucial or major factor in their vote.
BMI analysts say more than half of the US hyperscale pipeline will face regulatory friction, mostly at the subnational level. About 53% of pipeline growth sits in newly flipped governor states like Texas, Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In Texas, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa said she’s committed to extending the state’s de facto moratorium and adding tighter regulation, building on outgoing Governor Greg Abbott’s ERCOT interconnection audit and permit freeze.
Abroad, renewables have been the focus of policy moves. Malaysia approved a 30% renewable sourcing requirement for new data centers, with onsite solar encouraged. Spain raised its mandate threshold from 1MW to above 10MW while keeping its 80% hourly renewable rule. Portugal, which has more than 2.6GW of capacity in development, is drafting rules requiring renewable power and waterless cooling.
Market News: Verizon’s $2B AWS Deal, Telecom Tie-Ups
In money moves, Verizon signed an AI infrastructure deal with AWS worth more than $2 billion, announced alongside its Q3 earnings. SpaceX tapped Qualcomm to supply 5G infrastructure for Starlink Mobile’s US network, with deployment starting early next year and scaling to tens of thousands of sites. The FCC cleared Amazon’s $11.5 billion Globalstar acquisition, bolstering its Amazon Leo constellation. Meanwhile, Intel bought quantum software firm Classiq for $2.2 billion in the hopes of becoming a full-stack quantum provider. Not every deal made it, though: Bloomberg reports Deutsche Telekom has shelved its massive T-Mobile US merger after works council pushback.
On the reliability front, an October 19th power outage at a data center knocked Portugal’s National Health Service offline, blocking access to patient records and electronic prescriptions. The agency said it expects new infrastructure by the end of 2026.
Energy and Power: Dominion’s 55GW Pipeline, Google’s 1GW VPP
In power news, Dominion Energy reports 54.9GW of data center demand in various stages of contracting – up 13% since year-end – with 12GW already under service agreements. In the UK, National Grid bought land for a 3.2GW substation in Teesside, which would be the country’s largest substation, according to The Guardian. Drax unveiled a data center of up to 1GW with Brookfield and Radiant at its North Yorkshire power station, with phase one targeting 100MW. Downing Renewable Developments also entered the market with a 500MW pipeline in Sweden and Finland.
On the supply side, Google expanded its Voltus partnership into a 1GW virtual power plant across PJM, the largest hyperscaler VPP deal to date. It pools flexible capacity from thermostats, batteries, and industrial assets to ease grid stress. Microsoft signed two solar PPAs in Japan with Blueleaf Energy, and California Resources and Bloom Energy are eyeing 1GW of fuel cells under a non-binding MoU.
US and International Development: Gigawatt Builds, Global Expansion
Pushback or not, the builds continue. Neocloud Lambda says it’s developing a $33.1 billion campus in Lowndes County, Alabama, starting at 1GW with room to reach 1.5GW. It’s the single largest investment project ever announced in the state. SpaceXAI is adding two Southaven, Mississippi sites to Colossus 2, hosting roughly 420,000 Nvidia GB300s. Elsewhere, Google is eyeing 1,000 acres for a 1.2GW campus in Goochland County, Virginia, and a 520MW project is planned in Eatonton, Georgia. In Michigan, a 700MW project was proposed outside Lansing despite a local moratorium. Stack and Oracle topped out the first Project Jupiter building in New Mexico. Prometheus Hyperscale exited a Casper, Wyoming project, but the landowners say it will proceed.
Internationally, Bloomberg reports Google will invest $15 billion in Malaysia across 2027 and 2028, expanding its Elmina campus in Selangor and adding sites in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. Crusoe is building 106MW in Paraguay, its first Latin American site, powered by the Itaipú Dam, and Marwynn plots a $500 million AI data center in Grenada.
In Australia, an off-grid, 1GW campus was filed in Western Australia, a gigawatt-scale hub was proposed outside Adelaide, South Australia, and AirTrunk secured AU$4.25 billion for its SYD3 campus in Western Sydney. In Europe, Tract plans a 500MW facility in Durham, UK, and Green is developing a campus in Birr, Switzerland. Finnish police opened a criminal investigation into Google over the reported felling of about 250,000 trees at its Muhos, Finland site.
Next-Gen Tech: Cooling Gets Creative
Chemical developer Alexium International is proposing a novel way to manage server heat: coating data center walls with microscopic phase-change capsules. Applied via drywall or paint, the tiny wax-filled capsules melt to absorb excess heat during cooling failures and solidify as room temperatures normalize. The company hopes it can passively buy operators time during cooling failures.
Ferveret’s in-rack immersion cooling at MIT uses subcooled boiling inside standard rack-compatible modules to support over 600kW per rack at a PUE below 1.03. The company claims that pairing it with facility efficiency gains can unlock up to 35% more usable compute from the same power.
Lastly, rather than circulating water through servers, ZutaCore’s two-phase HyperCool technology uses a sealed liquid that boils directly inside chip-mounted cold plates. The rapid shift from liquid to vapor reportedly absorbs far more thermal energy than standard liquid cooling, allowing the waterless system to handle chips exceeding 1,500 watts without leak risks. ZutaCore claims the design can cut cooling energy by 35% or more.